Impacts of Standardized Patients as a Teaching Tool to Develop Communication Skills in Nursing Education: A Mixed-Studies Systematic Review

Standardized patients (SPs) are involved in nursing education to teach communication skills; however, their impacts are not well examined. This mixed-studies systematic review synthesized ev-idence of the impact of having SPs to develop and enhance nursing students' communication skills with patients. A search across eight databases, gray literature sources, and relevant journals via hand-searching was conducted. The population was nursing students pursuing formal education at institutes of higher learning. The exposure included simulation interventions engaging SPs to teach communication skills. Published or unpublished, quantitative, mixed-method, and qualitative studies written in the English language were included. No restriction was set on publication year given SPs existed 40 years ago. The mixed Method Appraisal Tool was utilized to appraise included studies. Data was extracted utilizing an adapted JBI data extraction form. Thematically synthesized findings were mapped according to Kirkpatrick's model using the best-fit framework analysis approach. The partnership with SPs is well-received as a teaching tool to enhance communication skills. However, real-world applications of learned simulated communication skills are required to examine the long-term and overall impact of SPs on nursing students' communication skills. Future research could focus on evaluating the real-world and long-term application of learned communication skills of nursing students beyond the simulated settings.