RESULTS
Five themes were derived from
research Question 1:
(a) NegativeVoices Frustrating Me
(b) Having Difficulty Concentrating
(c) Feeling Overwhelmed
(d) Experiencing Annoying Voices
(e) Enduring Physical and Psychological Symptoms
(Table 1). In the Negative Voices Frustrating Me theme, students experienced
individuals actually talking to them using degrading and discouraging messages.
They experienced the voices as scary,creepy, annoying, and frustrating.
Some voices were male, whereas some were female.
Random voices told studentsthey were devalued.
The theme Having Difficulty Concentrating described students’ experiences with attempting to perform tasks, but feeling as if they could not concentrate or focus.
One student wrote she could not answer any of the psychiatrist’s questions because of the voices.
In the Feeling Overwhelmed theme, students were overwhelmed by the experience, as the voices competed with the activities and people in the environment who were giving directions for the assigned activities.
One student reported, “I felt I did not have control of what I was saying.” Another participant reflected, “I couldn’t control my brain.”
In the Experiencing Annoying Voices theme, voices laughing at the students
were described as annoying and irritating.
Enduring Physical and Psychological Symptoms was a theme that delineated
bodily symptoms (e.g., headaches,anxiety, light-headedness). One student
described it as, “My heart started torace.” Four themes emerged from research
Question 2:
(a) Developing Empathy
(b) Gaining Insight: Patients’ Daily Functioning
(c) Life-Changing
(d) Developing Patience
(Table 2).
In the theme Developing Empathy, a participant stated, “It gave me an understanding
of the diffi culties they suffer.” Another student refl ected, “I cannot believe that is what they deal with daily.
It really helped me to understand.”
In the Gaining Insight: Patients’ Daily Functioning theme, students described
how they perceived hearing distressing voices to affect activities of daily living.
One student documented, “I didn’t know voices could be that powerful and have that kind of impact on everyday activities.” Students learned to develop more patience with individuals hearing voices, as described in the theme Developing
Patience.
One student wrote,“I understand that those patients need a lot of encouragement. We need to be more patient and allow more time when asking questions.” In the theme Life-Changing, one student stated, “This simulation defi nitely gave me a different
understanding. This was very lifechanging.” Four themes emerged from research
Question 3:
(a) Acknowledging Effect of Hearing Distressful Voices
(b) Developing Patience and Respect
(c)Promoting Novel Therapeutic Care Approaches
(d) Opening My Eyes