A Narrative Study of the Experiences of Student Nurses Who Have Participated in the Hearing Voices that are Distressing Simulation

The aim of this study was to provide nursing students with an experiential learning opportunity which simulated living with the challenge of voice hearing. The purpose was to access understanding and insights of nursing students who completed 'Hearing Voices that are Distressing: A Training Experience and Simulation for Students' (Deegan, 1996). Using a narrative research design and a convenience sample of 27 nursing students, participants were asked to respond in written format to three open ended prompts immediately following their participation in the simulation. Data generated was subjected to a thematic content analysis using a manual cut and paste approach to inductively find meanings and insights elicited from the respondents' actual words. Affirmed in this study was the use of this teaching tool to assist the students in their understanding of the challenges posed by voice hearing.