Learning together: An evaluative case study of residents in aged care volunteering as simulated patients for nursing clinical skill education

Abstract

Clinical skill learning environments are a key part of nursing education and simulated patients are often utilised in nursing education. An unoccupied nursing home located on a residential aged care campus created an opportunity to develop a simulated clinical learning environment and a clinical skill program where residents from the aged care campus volunteered as simulated patients. Using a case study this research sought to evaluate a clinical skill program to determine how the involvement of residents from an aged care community volunteering as simulated patients impacted on nursing students, resident volunteers, and academic and aged care staff. The study used a mixed methods approach guided by Kirkpatrick’s evaluation framework to examine the experiences before and after the clinical skill program of two cohorts of nursing students (n= 52) and the resident volunteers (n=19). The experiences of academic staff (n=4) and aged care staff (n=3) from the aged care facility were also examined. Three overarching themes described the nursing students’ experiences of the CSP with the RVs as SPs, Responses to Learning, Preparation for Reality of Nursing Practice, and Recognising Benefits beyond Learning. Nursing students overwhelmingly valued the learning experience with the resident volunteers as it provided a unique interaction with real people as opposed to mannequins and allowed students to develop the art of nursing in a supported environment that prepared them for clinical practice and supported them during clinical placements. The RV experience was described as a journey of volunteering captured by three main themes: the Pre-Volunteering Perspectives, the Experiences of Volunteering the Post-Volunteering Perspectives. The residents were initially curious volunteers who transitioned to actively participating in nursing student learning, became partners in the learning and enjoyed the experience. The study found staff perspective of the CSP was described in three key areas, Benefits for Students for Future Practice, Benefits for Residents beyond Expectations, and Benefits of Organisational Partnerships. University and residential aged care staff recognised the positive impact of the program with numerous benefits, not only for students, residents and both organisations but also for nursing practice. This case study provides evidence that involving older adults living in residential care as simulated patients is not only an innovative approach to simulation but has benefits for all stakeholders, particularly for nursing student learning and preparation for clinical practice. The success of the program is attributed to the partnership with the resident volunteers who were committed to supporting student learning for future nursing practice. The findings identify the potential to develop clinical learning environments in residential aged care communities where residents can be active contributors to nursing student learning.