ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Baccalaureate nursing students experience anxiety before working with patients with mental illness who hear voices. A hearing voices simulation and role-play was proposed as an approach to preparing students for clinical practice. METHOD: A qualitative interpretive phenomenological method was used to determine students' perceptions of the simulation experience before their first mental health clinical rotation. RESULTS: Through the experience of the Walking in the Shoes of Patients activity, written student surveys revealed themes of Reflecting on Past Experiences, Developing Changed Perspectives, and Different Approaches to Care. CONCLUSION: The hearing voices simulation provided students with a greater understanding of the experience of hearing voices, and the role-play helped students to gain personal insight into patients' behaviors and practice skills learned in preparation for their first mental health clinical experience.
