LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — In an effort to help future frontline healthcare workers develop empathy for patients with a mental illness, nursing students at the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences in East Lampeter Township completed a special training on Nov. 17.
In the Hearing Voices simulation, students listen to a tape of sometimes-disturbing voices that mimic a common symptom of schizophrenia.
“It allows the students to try to accomplish tasks while they have voices going on, some of which are kind, some are not kind,” said Stacey Bennett-Fulner, a family nurse practitioner and instructor at the college. “When they are interviewing a patient or trying to assess a patient, they may feel a little frustration because they’re not being listened to, maybe to recognize from an empathic perspective that they’re responding to internal stimuli.”
Some students had a visceral reaction to the voices, which alternated between whispers, loud noises and sometimes explicit insults.
“It’s terrifying. I mean, once I put this [earbud] on, I panicked and wanted to rip it out of my ears,” said Alecia Coughlin, a student in the associate in nursing program.
After she graduates, Coughlin wants to work as a nurse in labor and delivery. She expects mental health will play a part in her daily work.
“You’re going to have moms, dads, who have mental health issues. Looking at the patient for who they are and then looking at their complete chart and then making that plan of care is really important, is what we’ve learned,” she said.
The simulation comes as professionals in the psychiatric field reported a spike in mental health issues since the pandemic began.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended all adults under 65 be screened for anxiety and depression.