Nursing students’ views of the impact of geriatric role-play workshops on professional competencies: survey

BACKGROUND: Simulation and role-playing are the most commonly used experiential teaching methods in nursing education. The purpose of the study was to describe the impact of geriatric role-play workshops on the knowledge and skills of nursing students. We set one hypothesis: Students believe that learning through experiential role-play improves their professional competencies. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive quantitative study, collecting the data with a questionnaire. The study included 266 first-year nursing students who underwent 10 h of role-playing workshops in geriatric nursing in 2021. The questionnaire was compiled for the purpose of the present study, and its’ internal consistency was 0.844 (n = 27). We used descriptive and correlation statistical analysis. RESULTS: Respondents were convinced that they gained and consolidated knowledge and connected theory with practice through role-playing. They especially emphasized the abilities they acquired to communicate in a group, engage in constructive reflection, be more sensitive to one’s own emotions, and feel empathy. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents understand the use of the role-play method as an effective form of learning in geriatric nursing. They are convinced that they will be able to use the experience when working with an elderly patient in a clinical setting.