Hearing Distressing Voices Simulation: Students’ Perspectives

Abstract

The aim of this qualitative study was to describe nursing students’ experiences of hearing distressing voices through content analysis of essays regarding changes they encountered during simulation. Data, obtained from undergraduate (n = 237) and graduate (n = 128) students’ short self-reflection papers, were analysed using a six-step thematic analysis. The following six themes emerged: (a) experiencing cognitive and perceptual challenges, (b) feeling unpleasant emotions, (c) dealing with functional changes and hardships, (d) experiencing somatic changes, (e) making attempts to cope, and (f) facing lingering impact. The findings suggest that students’ experiences of voice-hearing simulation closely resembled the voice-hearers’ actual experience. Simulation is an effective teaching modality to introduce nursing students to the world voice-hearers live in and to prepare them for clinical practice enlightened through understanding of what it is like to hear distressing voices.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all nursing students who participated in VHS.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.