The power of lived experience: a qualitative focus group study exploring the experiences of students and service users involved in mental health nursing simulation

Purpose This study aims to explore the experience of students and service users within a debrief, following simulation. This includes to; compare the experiences of the service users and students, to generate areas for improvement and to understand the impact on student learning. Design/methodology/approach This study focused on group discussion, with thematic analysis of two focus groups with five third-year mental health nursing students and four service user participants. Findings The data describing the experiences of both the service users and students could be organised into three main themes: the perceived value of service user involvement, critique of the simulation and impact on students’ knowledge, skills and understanding. Research limitations/implications It is hoped that this study will add to the examination of service user involvement in healthcare education. The limitations include the small number of participants within the focus groups which may have had an impact on generalisability. Another limitation is that the higher levels of the Kirkpatrick model were not explored during the analysis stage. A final limitation that the scenarios that were not co-produced with service users, which could had an impact on the stigma felt by some service users. Practical implications This study has facilitated clear and practical solutions to improve the impact of service user involvement within simulation and specifically within the debrief. The implications for practice include the development of co-produced aims for all faculty members to be responsible for developing. It is important to support service users throughout their involvement to reduce stress. Finally, the development of the clinical scenarios and deciding who portrays the role of “patient” requires careful consideration and training, to achieve authenticity. Social implications This study aimed to review the experiences of students when service users were involved in debrief specifically and generated helpful evaluations. Through this exploration of experiences, practical guidelines have emerged. Therefore, further exploration into these practical areas and the development of a manual to support effective debrief following simulation when involving service users might be beneficial. Originality/value This study has helped to understand the value of service user involvement in debrief, as well as highlighted important areas for the improvement of simulation activities. These include the importance of developing a shared aim, training for service users, the influence on interpersonal skills and how to effectively use the feedback generated from the debrief.