Acceptability and effectiveness of cinematic simulation on leveraging nursing students’ mental mastery in the psychiatric clinical experience: A randomized controlled trial

Background

Cinematic simulation is an innovative pedagogical strategy framed around introducing students to comprehensive, reliable films and highlighting the professional role of psychiatric nurses in caring for individuals with different mental health problems.

Aim

To determine the effect of cinematic simulation on leveraging nursing students’ mental mastery in the psychiatric clinical experience.

Design

A randomized controlled trial experimental research design was followed.

Methods

Students in the intervention group were exposed to standardized tutorial videos and micro-learning content about individuals with different mental health problems. They conducted a comprehensive psychiatric assessment and formulated a nursing care plan for the displayed case.

Results

Students who participated in cinematic simulation improved their overall mean score of emotion regulation (28.63±9.84 pre-intervention to 34.46±11.23 post-intervention). A significant improvement in the students' resilience capacity means score at pre and post-intervention (45.77±19.99 and 59.74±17.73, respectively) was reported. Moreover, there was a statistically significant improvement in the empathy mean score among the study group at pre- and post-intervention (29.43±12.32 and 38.94±13.63, respectively).

Conclusion

Cinematic simulation affords credible evidence in fostering undergraduates’ emotions, resilience, and empathy. Conducting further RCTs to replicate and validate the current study's findings would boost the evidence base for using cinematic simulation as a pedagogical tactic in nursing education.