Developing Empathy in Emergency Nurses Using Hearing Voices Simulation.

Many health professionals report feeling uncomfortable talking with patients who hear voices. Patients who hear voices report feeling a lack of support and empathy from emergency nurses. A local emergency department reported a need for training for nurses in the care of behavioral health patients. The aim of this study is to implement a quality improvement project using a hearing voices simulation. Empathy was measured using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, and a post-intervention survey was used to evaluate emergency nurses' perception of the professional development session. The quality improvement project included the implementation of a hearing voices simulation with emergency nurses. A paired -test was used to determine the differences in the nurses empathy levels pre-and post-simulation. Qualitative data was collected on the nurses' experience during the simulation debriefing. A Likert-style questionnaire was used to collect data on the nurses' evaluation of the simulation. The results of the hearing voices simulation were a statistically significant increase ( < .00) in empathy from baseline ( = 47.95, = 6.55) to post-intervention empathy scores ( = 48.93, = 6.89). The results of the post-simulation survey indicated that nurses felt that the hearing voices simulation was useful ( = 100; 98%) and helped them to feel more empathetic toward patients who hear voices ( = 98; 96%). Using a hearing voices simulation may help emergency nurses feel more empathetic toward the behavioral health patients who hear voices. Through the implementation of a hearing voices simulation, clinical staff educators can provide support to staff nurses in the care of behavioral health patients.