{"id":194299,"date":"2023-02-15T08:33:46","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T15:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/?p=194299"},"modified":"2026-07-30T17:45:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T23:45:47","slug":"behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/2023\/02\/15\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\/","title":{"rendered":"Behavioral health simulation equips nursing students for any clinical setting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students typically don&#8217;t get a lot of clinical exposure to behavioral health environments. Thanks to the creativity of the Simulation Center team at the School of Nursing, that\u2019s all changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft wp-image-194304\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1300\" height=\"933\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2023\/02\/BehavHlthSim-group-web-opt.jpg\" alt=\"Nursing students in scrubs stand with standardized patients in a behavioral health setting\" class=\"wp-image-194304\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The standardized patients wore blue pinnies to distinguish themselves during the simulation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most behavioral health settings aren\u2019t set up like traditional hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to associate professor Kelley Connor, patients have group activities they attend; they talk with providers throughout their day; and they have the independence to walk around \u201cdoing their own thing\u201d in a safe environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Connor is the director of simulation-based education and research at the School of Nursing, but she also works per diem at Saint Alphonsus Behavioral Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt keeps me current on what&#8217;s going on in the healthcare setting,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I just got to thinking, \u2018How can I recreate this in the sim center?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright wp-image-194301\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"664\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2023\/02\/BehavHlthSim-sq664.jpg\" alt=\"Students in blue scrubs conduct behavioral health assessments with standardized patients\" class=\"wp-image-194301\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Simulation Center piloted this simulation last fall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBehavioral health units are typically small. We can&#8217;t necessarily host a group of ten students and an instructor in a behavioral health unit,\u201d Connor said. \u201cSo we decided to recreate it here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of taking place in a patient\u2019s room, this simulation mirrors the open, accessible halls of a behavioral health setting. Standardized patients roam the entire third floor of the Norco building while nursing students conduct behavioral health assessments. In practice, this means asking tough questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt&#8217;s a really good experience that students wouldn&#8217;t otherwise have,\u201d Connor said. \u201cThey&#8217;re asking about depression, anxiety, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts. Those are hard questions to ask, so just getting comfortable asking them and having that dialogue with a standardized patient, I think it&#8217;s going to be helpful for students so that they feel more confident in a clinical setting. Because you have to ask, it doesn&#8217;t matter where you work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is perhaps the most important skill for students to take away from the simulation, since mental health issues can be simultaneously present while a patient is treated for a physical condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we really try to show students is that there are mental health patients and behavioral health issues in any setting they go to, because they&#8217;re working with people,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s really our message: it doesn&#8217;t matter if you go to labor delivery or to the ER, you&#8217;re going to be working with patients with mental health issues. So we&#8217;re trying to give students tools so that they can do that,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a class=\"c-btn c-btn--border\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/healthsciences-simulation\/about\/news\/\">Learn about other Simulation Center projects<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students typically don&#8217;t get a lot of clinical exposure to behavioral health environments. Thanks to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3526,"featured_media":194301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[391,4095,4107,421,361],"tags":[4111,4096],"class_list":["post-194299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-son-bachelor","category-bsn","category-cohs-simulation-center","category-simulation-center","category-son","tag-behavioral-health","tag-clinicals"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Behavioral health simulation equips nursing students for any clinical setting - School of Nursing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Students often don&#039;t get much clinical exposure in behavioral health environments. 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Thanks to the creativity of the Simulation Center team at the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/2023\/02\/15\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"School of Nursing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BoiseStateSON\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-15T15:33:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T23:45:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/nursing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2023\/02\/BehavHlthSim-sq664.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katherine Denagy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BoiseStateNurse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BoiseStateNurse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katherine Denagy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/15\\\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/15\\\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katherine Denagy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0ff5e5de1dadcc984dc81b9a0f9e5162\"},\"headline\":\"Behavioral health simulation equips nursing students for any clinical setting\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-15T15:33:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-30T23:45:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/15\\\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/15\\\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/81\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/BehavHlthSim-sq664.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Behavioral health\",\"clinicals\"],\"articleSection\":[\"B.S. in Nursing\",\"BSN\",\"COHS Simulation Center\",\"Simulation\",\"SON\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/15\\\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/15\\\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\\\/\",\"name\":\"Behavioral health simulation equips nursing students for any clinical setting - School of Nursing\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/15\\\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/15\\\/behavioral-health-simulation-equips-nursing-students-for-any-clinical-setting\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/81\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/BehavHlthSim-sq664.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-15T15:33:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-30T23:45:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.boisestate.edu\\\/nursing\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0ff5e5de1dadcc984dc81b9a0f9e5162\"},\"description\":\"Students often don't get much clinical exposure in behavioral health environments. 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