“But I'm a Good Driver!”: A Standardized Patient Simulation to Teach Nurse Practitioner Students to Screen Older Adult Drivers

Abstract

BackgroundChanges of aging put older adult drivers at risk of motor vehicle crashes, injury, and death. Nurse Practitioners (NP) can make clinical decisions regarding counseling at-risk drivers about transitioning away from driving. However, NP students typically receive little deliberate instruction in this content. MethodsStandardized Patients portrayed at-risk older adult drivers during a 25-minute simulated office visit. Four hundred eight-one NP students participated (in-person, n = 234; telehealth, n = 247). Students conducted brief driving histories, performed one cognitive and one physical screening measure, discussed results using best-practice communication skills, recommended appropriate referrals, and documented findings. Self-debriefing worksheets, faculty observation, debriefing discussion, and the Simulation Effectiveness Tool-Modified (SET-M) were examined. ResultsWritten debriefing and faculty-facilitated debriefing demonstrated desire to know more about reporting/referral and expressed the value of practicing difficult conversations related to driving transition. SET-M scores revealed all subscale means above 2, indicating positive perceptions of the experience. ConclusionsThis simulation provided clinical decision-making opportunities to discuss driving transition with at-risk older adult drivers using best-practice communication skills and resulted in positive perceptions reflecting beneficial learning.