Educating undergraduate general nursing students to conduct Mental State Assessments using high fidelity video simulations that develops learning in the affective domain

Nursing students require a range of clinical skills to contribute as part of the mental health care team, we would argue that one of the quintessential skills is the ability to complete and accurately record a Mental State Assessment (MSA). Teaching students how to complete a MSA using high fidelity video simulations (HVFS) prepares them for the reality of clinical practice including cognitive skill development and emotional readiness for clinical practicum in acute mental health care settings. In this study, three HVF simulations were created to facilitate students learning, based on well documented evidence supporting the use of video content as a learning media. However our focus is not only on cognitive skill development in conducting mental state assessments, but in distinguishing the approach to learning in the affective domain. Using this method, students learn to confront and manage their own feelings, beliefs and attitudes and in turn regulate their emotional responses in clinical situations. Pre and post workshop evaluations completed by students for the past three years has resulted in consistently high levels of confidence in ability to conduct a MSA after the workshop. The paired t test was used to calculate the difference between pre and post workshop confidence scores, revealing the two-tailed p value of less than .0001 which is considered to be extremely statistically significant. Therefore, it can be concluded that students completing the 3-day workshop had a significant increase in confidence and competence in performing MSA’s.