Department of Emergency Medical Care, University of Johannesburg, P O Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa.
Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Sep 27;24(1):1043. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-06020-x.
Simulation assessment can result in anxiety for students. These assessments involve being observed by assessors, so there is a significant socio-evaluative stress component which may cause greater anxiety if assessors are visible to students during assessments. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of assessor visibility on biological and physiological markers of stress and levels of anxiety experienced by pre-hospital emergency care students in a simulation assessment environment.
A paired comparison, pre-post test research design was used with two conditions; an assessor visible condition with simulation assessors visible to students in the room and an assessor not visible condition with assessors not in the room but connected via video link. With a sample of 29 emergency care students anxiety was measured with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and stress was measured with salivary cortisol and heart rate variability (HRV).
Differences in state anxiety scores, HRV variables and salivary cortisol suggested lower stress and anxiety in the assessor visible group. Only heart rate was significantly different between the groups (p = 0.016), with a higher heart rate in the assessor not visible group.
Greater stress and anxiety may be experienced by students during emergency care simulation assessments when assessors are not visible to students.
模拟评估可能会给学生带来焦虑。这些评估涉及到被评估者观察，因此存在显著的社会评价压力因素，如果评估者在评估期间对学生可见，可能会导致更大的焦虑。本研究旨在确定评估者可见性对模拟评估环境中急诊护理学生的应激生物和生理标志物以及焦虑水平的影响。
采用配对比较、前后测试的研究设计，有两种条件：评估者可见条件，模拟评估者在房间内对学生可见；评估者不可见条件，评估者不在房间内，但通过视频链接连接。共有 29 名急诊护理学生参加了研究，采用状态-特质焦虑量表测量焦虑，唾液皮质醇和心率变异性（HRV）测量应激。
状态焦虑评分、HRV 变量和唾液皮质醇的差异表明，在评估者可见组中应激和焦虑较低。只有心率在两组之间存在显著差异（p=0.016），不可见评估者组的心率更高。
当评估者对学生不可见时，学生在急诊护理模拟评估中可能会经历更大的应激和焦虑。
