Instructions For Nursing Education In Role Play Method
What is Role Play Method of Instructions In Nursing Education
Role play, sometimes alternatively referred to as role playing, is a method of instruction by which learners actively participate in an unrehearsed dramatization. Participants are asked to play an assigned character as they think the character would act realistically. This technique is intended to arouse feelings and elicit emotional responses in the learners. It is used primarily to achieve behavioral objectives in the effective domain.
Unlike high-fidelity simulation, which teaches learners to master skills for application to their own real life situations, role play a form of simulation places learners in real life situations to help them develop understanding of other people and why they behave the way they do (Comer, 2005; Lowenstein & Harris, 2014; Redman, 2007).
For example, a nurse attending an education program on sensory disabilities might be given the experience of wearing special glasses to see how it feels to function with impaired vision. Children can use role play with puppets to explore their responses to such illnesses as asthma (Ramsey & Siroky, 1988).
When Role Play Method of Instruction is Effective
Role play is a technique that, according to Comer (2005), can be used to substitute for or supplement costly high-tech simulations to teach students various skills and develop clinical judgment at varying levels of difficulty.
As a teaching method, role play is a very useful technique because it serves multiple functions:
1.It helps learners to explore their own and others' feelings; gain insight into their values, attitudes, and beliefs; develop problem solving and decision making skills; explore a topic in more depth; and develop a better understanding of interpersonal relationships (Baile & Blatner, 2014; Billings & Halstead, 2015; Chan, 2012; Dawood, 2013; Lowenstein & Harris, 2014).
The responsibility of the educator is to design a situation with enough information for learners to be able to assume the role of someone else without giving a script to them to follow. Occasionally, people are assigned to play themselves to rehearse desired behavior, or the educator takes a part in the role play session to act as a positive role model for the learners.
Most often, however, the educator acts as the facilitator and designates members in a group to play certain characters. They then pretend to be these people for the duration of the exercise. Participants do and say things that they perceive actual persons would do, say, and feel.
2.For role play to be employed effectively, the educator must be sure that the group has achieved a comfort level that allows each member to feel secure enough to participate in a dramatization. This method should never be used with learners at the beginning of a group session encounter. Members need time to establish a rapport with one another as well as with the educator, or else learners may feel embarrassed or self-conscious about playing a part.
All members of the group should be given an assignment to ensure that they are actively involved in the teaching learning experience (Comer, 2005; Haggard, 1989; Lowenstein & Harris, 2014). Those who are actual participants need to be informed about the roles they are to portray so that they can effectively develop the appropriate actions.
Those who are designated as observers require specific instructions about what to attend during the role-play session. The actual length of a role-play session can be as short as 5 minutes, but it should not exceed 15 to 20 minutes (Lowenstein & Harris, 2014).
3.Role play is best done in small groups so that all learners can serve as either players or observers. Active participation by learners is particularly important during a post activity discussion or debriefing session. Because this teaching method is most effective for learning in the effective domain, all participants need to discuss how they felt and share what they observed to gain insight into their understanding of interpersonal relationships and their reactions to role expectations or conflicts.
Who Is a Role Model
The use of self as a role model is often over- looked as a teaching method. Learning from a role model is called identification and emanates from learning and developmental theories, such as Bandura's social learning theory and Erikson's psychosocial stages of development, which explain how people acquire new behaviors and social roles (Crandell, Crandell, & Vander Zanden, 2012; Snowman & McCown, 2015).
This teaching method primarily is known to achieve behavior change in the affective domain.Preceptors and mentors are excellent examples of experienced health professionals who, through use of role model, guide, support, and socialize students and novice practitioners in their transition to a new level of functioning (Doherty, 2016) . Preceptors help bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Role model, also referred to as role modeling, is a teaching method that also can help new health professionals develop critical thinking competencies and interpersonal skills, as well as assist them to assume the responsibilities and values of the profession with which they identify (Sorensen & Yankech, 2008).
Nurse educators have many opportunities to demonstrate behaviors they would like to instill in learners, whether they are patients or family members, nursing staff, or students. The competency with which the educator performs a skill, the way he or she interacts with others, the personal example he or she sets, and the enthusiasm and interest he or she conveys about a subject or problem all can influence learners' motivation levels and the extent to which they successfully perform a desired behavior.
Behavior is regulated by the social norms and professional expectations that specify what is appropriate versus inappropriate behavior. Role conflict can arise when a learner's past behavior patterns are incompatible or different from another role that person must assume (Crandell et al., 2012).
Educators can teach students and staff new behaviors by consistently setting examples and living the standards of the nursing profession. “Actions speak louder than words” is a popular saying relevant to the use of self as a role model (de Tornyay & Thompson, 1987).
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