Clinical simulation in communication in nursing education: a randomized study on the satisfaction, confidence and self-perception of students

INTRODUCTION: The Brazilian nursing scene counts predominantly with the categories of nursing technicians and nursing assistants. Taking into consideration its importance in the health care of the person, family and community based on human, ethical and SUS principles, it becomes necessary to qualify health care, which originates from the initial formation of the student. Thus, the use of active methodologies in teaching can favor the learning of students of professional education in nursing; for this reason, we envisage clinical simulation as a teaching strategy that can aid in the formation of the student and collaborate in the development of several cognitive, procedural and attitudinal abilities, among them communication. It is the objective of the study to verify if the clinical simulation in communication collaborates with the training of the nursing professional. METHOD: randomized mixed study using the control group and intervention group with a sample of 37 participants of the module I (nursing assistant) of a private technical school in the interior of the state of São Paulo. Participants were applied to fill in instruments containing socio-demographic data, the HCAT (Health Communication Assessment Tool) that evaluates health communication and the Student Satisfaction Scale and Self-Confidence in Learning in order to quantitatively verify student's satisfaction and learning using clinical simulation in communication. Subsequently, an interview with the selected participants was carried out, which was recorded for a qualitative analysis using a theoretical reference. RESULTS: The quantitative analysis of the satisfaction scale demonstrated that the students were highly confident and satisfied with their learning, but the results of the communication ability assessment (HCAT) showed that the students were not prepared to communicate adequately. In addition, the statements of interviews when they put the communication applied in the context of technical, repetitive and informational care reinforce the results evidenced by the HCAT. CONCLUSIONS: A single scenario of high fidelity clinical simulation did not show significant differences between participants in the control group versus intervention group, which demonstrates that the strategy must obtain greater appreciation and training of teachers to use it and be better implemented in disciplines and throughout the technical nursing course