Evaluation of the Effect of Standardized Child Patient Use on Preparing the Child for Process Skill; A Mix Method Study

Background The use of high-fidelity simulation in healthcare education has emerged as a solution to address clinical experiences where patient, educational, or clinical setting limitations exist. Simulation, used to provide competence and competence in learning, is a technique or tool that attempts are made to create features of the real world. In the simulation performed using standardized patients; The patient or case study is portrayed by playing the role/scenario prepared with structured steps. Use of standardized/simulated patient in teaching; It contributes to the development of students' communication skills, history taking and physical examination skills. Training using standardized patients cannot be substituted for encountering real patients, but it is accepted as a practice that should be increased in a standard and integrative way. Simulation-based education is ideal for nursing education because it is an interactive method that can be used to help teach cognitive, psychomotor, or affective skills to individuals or groups of any skill or proficiency level. Simulation is a technique that can be used as a training method and/or research method. Simulation gives the opportunity to apply techniques that cannot be applied or tested, and provides realism and standardization. It is stated that it is beneficial to use in high-risk applications such as pediatric applications and where the probability of encountering students is low. For the child, the concept of illness and hospitalization include experiences that cause fear and discomfort. The hospital environment, healthcare professionals, materials and procedures create a sense of uncertainty for all children in the hospital. All procedures applied in the hospital affect the child physically, emotionally, behaviorally and cognitively. As a result, many behaviors such as fear, anxiety, anger, aggressive behaviors, impaired concentration, and rejection of further medical applications develop in the child. If children are not prepared before the procedure, they may become withdrawn, never speak or become aggressive due to the fear and anxiety they experience. This situation increases the psychological and physical pain and pain sensation of the child and complicates the work of the healthcare team. Preparation before the procedure, support during the procedure and follow-up after the procedure can help the child cope with invasive interventions. Nurses trying to provide sensitive care to the child should assume that every procedure applied to the child may be traumatic for the child.

The school-age child knows about infections and how they spread. The child in this period has a realistic perception about the disease, the cause of the diseases and their effects on the organs. The concept of the child's body parts and functions begins to develop. It is important to learn the child's knowledge about hospitalization and medical procedures and correct misunderstandings through play. Before the procedure, it is necessary to introduce himself to the child and allow the child to introduce himself. Parents should be encouraged to be with the child. All procedures and their reasons should be explained to the child without using medical terminology. The materials to be used during the procedure should be introduced to the child, and if possible, the process should be shown to the child on a toy or anatomical drawing. Giving the child the opportunity to ask questions about the procedure and answering their questions will reduce their anxiety. He should be allowed to choose as much as possible and his participation in the process should be encouraged. Before starting the procedure, the child's consent should be obtained and the child's privacy should be considered during the procedures. It is important to be rewarded or appreciated for the compliant behaviors displayed during the procedure.

Child health and diseases nursing is one of the fields where the use of simulation is most necessary, since pediatric patients are more likely to be harmed by medical errors. The use of children as standardized patients in medical education; It is not very common because the physical and mental development of children is incomplete and it is difficult to train children as standardized patients. However, despite the difficulties, it is very necessary to use children as standardized patients, to protect real patients from inappropriate experiences and to ensure patient safety. Clinical practice of child health and diseases nursing often causes feelings of fear and anxiety, and this reduces the performance of students. Alleviating these concerns can contribute to improving student performance and quality of care in the pediatric clinical setting.

Studies using children as standard patients are very limited. This study was planned to evaluate the effect of using children as standard patients on the child's ability to prepare for procedures in pediatric nursing education.

Method