The effect of a role-playing exercise on clerkship students' views of death notification: the Swedish experience

Abstract

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine clerkship students ' perspective towards delivering death notifications . An additional purpose of the study was to identify the learning needs of students following a role play exercise in delivering death notifications . Methods : Participants in this study were fourth - year medical students (N=86) ranging in age from 22 - 43 years with a mean age of 27 . 1 years . There were 28 women and 58 men . Questionnaires , consisting of open - ended questions and a visual analogue scale (VAS) , were administered before and after the " Marathon Death " role play exercise . Results : Six categories emerged from the analysis of the questionnaire : communication , emotions , self - development , exercise - related , learning opportunities and tools and strategies . Results from the visual analogue scale showed that the majority of students (60%) needed to practice how to deliver difficult messages in death notifica - tions . After taking part in the role - playing activity with video playback , where the students had an opportunity to view , discuss and reenact scenarios , seventy - six out of 78 (97 . 4%) stated that they had received training in communi - cation skills . The responding students rated the exercise as highly relevant , scoring it a mean of 91 on a VAS scale of 0 to 100 mm . Conclusions : Students are not competent in the communi - cation skills required for delivering death notifications . A majority of students expressed a need for training in com - munication skills . The " Marathon Death " role play exercise provides initial training and emotional support for deliver - ing a death notification . However , further empirical studies are required about the effect of the exercise on delivering the notification of death .