Using Virtual Simulation to Support Mental Health Education

Identifying mental illness in a patient can be one of the biggest challenges that a nurse faces. The ability to recognize an underlying mental illness can drastically change the assessment and diagnosis processes, and therefore the treatment plan. The net result can translate into better patient outcomes.

四分之一的人（全球约有4.5亿人）患有精神障碍。¹Yet, up to 50% of serious cases go untreated in high-income countries.²误诊在心理健康领域很常见，通常是因为症状通常可以以不同的方式和不同的时间实现。当护士了解某些精神疾病的表现以及获得准确的患者历史所需的批判性思维技能时，他们可以对他们评估和诊断精神病患者的能力感到更加自信。

Recognition is the first step in providing the proper treatment. In this article, we discuss how training with a practical delivery mode, like virtual simulation, can better prepare nursing students to recognize mental illness and can promote a more favorable attitude by care givers toward patients with a mental illness. The result can be better patient-centered care.

在美国，大约有5600万美国成年人患有精神疾病。^3.Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death, and four of the ten leading causes of disability are mental disorders (major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder).^4,5Some experts have even begun to label the growing concern over mental illness as a “mental health crisis”.

护士是提供心理保健的最大专业人士，无论是在初级或专业卫生服务中。由于护士与患者的直接关系，至关重要的是，他们对发现精神疾病和相应治疗患者的能力充满信心。护理教育者倡导在预许可和研究生级别进行早期和身临其境的心理健康教育。^7.

尽管护士教育者对心理健康教育的重要性达成了共识，但通常还有一个问题如何to impart the right skills to learners. Some facilities have introduced standardized patients, or actors who play the part of a patient suffering from a mental illness. Though this can be extremely useful in teaching how to take the patient’s history, educators commonly state that the inability of standardized patients to display physiological changes is a shortcoming. Other facilities have implemented the use of high-fidelity simulators in their nursing programs, which can demonstrate physiological changes throughout the care pathway and serve as a means to augment learner’s existing knowledge.

虚拟仿真是通过电子学习吸引学生的一种方法，它的流行性增加了，因为它可以帮助以互动和现实的方式引入心理健康教育。In fact, 65% of nursing programs are currently using virtual simulation.^8.Through the use of virtual simulation, learners can fine-tune their assessment skills and improve their ability to recognize mental illness, both through the observable physiological changes and the patient interview.

Those affected by mental illness often avoid seeking help due to public stigma surrounding mental disorders. Culturally, we have still not advanced beyond socially shunning those who suffer from mental illnesses.^9.The general public has made strides toward helping patients of mental illness, but there are still underlying stigmas that can negatively affect relationships. And, nurse-patient relationships are no exception.

Research has shown that stigmatizing attitudes are also found among healthcare staff and they are reflective of negative public opinion.¹⁰This has raised concern about the quality of care that mental health patients are receiving.Assumptive and bias perspectives can negatively impact the care of a patient.

导致这些负面看法的因素是：^11.

• 缺少知识
• Less professional experience
• 不熟悉（即没有精神疾病的朋友或亲戚）

Conversely, increased mental health education and more experience with mental illness can influence a healthcare provider’s attitude in a positive direction.Nurse educators are tasked with providing a mental health education that fosters inclusivity, empathy, and respect for patients suffering from mental illness.

“The most important thing a nursing program can do to prepare nurses to care for patients with mental illness is to teach them that mental health issues are widespread among the population and that someone with mental illness deserves the same care, compassion, and respect as any other patient,” says Mary Wickman, RN, PhD, University of Southern California in Costa Mesa.¹²In addition, educators should be debunking myths – especially in regard to violence among the mentally ill. Only 3-5% of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness.^13.

Preparation for nursing students is awareness.By exposing learners to common behaviors and symptoms associated with mental illness, their perceptions of what a mentally ill patient “looks like” or “acts like” will gradually shift from stigma to reality.

在这方面，模拟学习者的益处是因为它提供了一个机会，可以引入传统临床放置中可能看不到的较少常见事件。¹⁴Virtual simulation, specifically, is proven to be a consistent and effective method of training nurses. Research has shown that通过基于技术的培训，可以实现多达60％的学习一致性。^15.每种情况都要求学习者收集患者病史并练习以患者为中心的护理。学习经验促进了批判性思维和决策能力的发展，同时还为学习者带来了精神疾病的“现实生活”经验。

Simulation in mental health nursing can help to develop empathetic care practices and increase a student’s understanding of mental illness.^16.这两种发展都可以导致更高的认可，误诊的机会减少以及更好的护理质量。

With virtual simulation, which allows learners to move at their own pace, the benefits are manifold. One study found that when nursing staff engaged autonomously with interactive video learning, they had greater compliance and satisfaction with training compared to those who received only lecture.^17.另一项研究发现,虚拟病人冥界p to teach clinical decision-making skills to nursing students.^18.During a virtual simulation, there is no risk associated with incorrect diagnosis and treatment, which gives students thefreedom to make mistakes before they treat their first real patient.

虚拟仿真还可以帮助定位和费尔l knowledge gaps left behind from textbook readings and lectures. Increasing students’ skills in therapeutic communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and risk assessment in mental health nursing practice, simulation provides the exposure students need.^19.

配备有能力和善解人意治疗患者的技能，您的护士将对他们的精神疾病能力感到有能力和自信。