An interventional study of Suicide Scenario-Based Clinical Simulation in Suicide, Stigma, Social and Simulation Based Learning, sponsored by Medipol University. Completed at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-03.
Sponsored by Medipol University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
This study aims to examine the effect of a suicide scenario-based clinical simulation on nursing students' suicide care competency and suicide stigma levels. The study uses a single-group pre-test/post-test (quasi-experimental) design. Nursing students enrolled in a Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing course at a foundation university in Istanbul, Türkiye, who have not previously participated in a similar simulation, are invited to take part.
Before the simulation, participants complete a set of questionnaires assessing their suicide care competency and attitudes toward suicide stigma. They then take part in a structured simulation session involving a standardized patient portraying a person with suicidal history and risk. The session includes a prebriefing phase, a 15-minute clinical encounter, and a 60-minute debriefing session guided by the PEARLS model. Immediately afterward, participants complete the same questionnaires again.
The purpose of the study is to determine whether simulation-based training improves nursing students' competency in caring for individuals at suicide risk and reduces stigmatizing attitudes toward suicide, and to contribute evidence on the use of simulation in psychiatric nursing education.
Design: This study was conducted using a single-group pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effect of a suicide scenario-based clinical simulation on nursing students' suicide care competency and suicide stigma levels.
Hypotheses:
H1: Post-test mean suicide care competency scores of nursing students who participate in the simulation will be higher than their pre-test mean scores.
H2: Post-test mean suicide stigma scores of nursing students who participate in the simulation will be lower than their pre-test mean scores.
Population and Sample: The study population consists of 3rd-year students enrolled in the Mental Health and Diseases Nursing course (English Program) at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, during the 2026-2027 fall semester (N=110). The sample consists of students who had not previously participated in a similar suicide scenario-based simulation and who agreed to participate voluntarily.
Data Collection Tools: A Personal Information Form (9 items; developed by the researchers, covering age, gender, marital status, prior experience with suicidal individuals, self-reported care competency, personal and family history related to suicidal ideation or attempt), the Suicide Care Competence Scale (SCCS; 18 items, 5 subscales; Sun et al., 2014; Turkish validity and reliability by Erfidan \& Büyükbayram Arslan, 2026; Cronbach α=0.85), and the Stigma of Suicide Scale (SOSS; 55 items, 3 subscales: Stigmatization, Isolation/Depression, Glorification/Normalization; Batterham, Calear \& Christensen, 2013; Turkish validity and reliability by Öztürk, Akın \& Durna, 2017; Cronbach α=0.90) were used.
Simulation Intervention: The intervention consisted of three sequential phases - prebriefing, clinical simulation, and debriefing - with identical learning objectives, environment, scenario, and procedures maintained across all participants to preserve intervention fidelity.
Prebriefing Phase: Conducted immediately before the simulation by the principal researcher, introducing the learning objectives, scenario, participant roles, expected timeline, debriefing process, and data collection instruments, and establishing a psychologically safe learning environment. Pre-test questionnaires (Personal Information Form, SCCS, SOSS) were completed at the end of this phase.
Clinical Simulation Phase: Each group of students engaged in an approximately 15-minute encounter with a standardized patient portraying a person with suicidal history and risk, communication difficulties, and nursing care needs. The scenario was set in a clinical inpatient context. Students practiced therapeutic communication and suicide risk assessment within a safe, realistic environment.
Debriefing Phase: A 60-minute structured session guided by the PEARLS (Promoting Excellence and Reflective Learning in Simulation) blended debriefing model, encompassing reaction, analysis, and summary phases. Post-test questionnaires (SCCS, SOSS) were completed immediately after the debriefing. Total session duration was approximately 2 hours.
Data Analysis Plan: Data are analyzed using SPSS 22.0. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, median, frequency, percentage) are used for quantitative and qualitative variables respectively. The paired-samples t-test is used to compare pre-test and post-test measurements. Pearson correlation analysis is used to assess relationships between variables. Statistical significance is evaluated at the 95% confidence level (p\<0.05).
266 studies on the registry are indexed under Social Stigma; 66 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 110 is below the median of 139 across 217 interventional studies indexed under Social Stigma.
Browse Social Stigma studies →Medipol University is the lead sponsor of 326 studies on the registry; 88 are open to participants now.
Compared within Social Stigma, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Suicide. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
There is one group. All participants received a suicide scenario-based clinical simulation before their psychiatric clinical placement. The intervention consisted of three sequential phases - prebriefing, clinical simulation, and debriefing - with identical learning objectives, environment, scenario, and procedures maintained across all participants to preserve intervention fidelity.
Behavioral: Suicide Scenario-Based Clinical Simulation
A structured simulation-based intervention consisting of three phases: (1) Prebriefing: introduction of learning objectives, scenario, and roles; completion of pre-test questionnaires (Personal Information Form, Suicide Care Competence Scale, Stigma of Suicide Scale). (2) Clinical Simulation: a 15-minute standardized patient encounter in which nursing students practice therapeutic communication and suicide risk assessment with a patient portraying suicidal history and risk. (3) Debriefing: a 60-minute structured reflective session guided by the PEARLS model, followed by immediate post-test administration. Total duration approximately 2 hours.
Change in Suicide Care Competency
Measured by the Suicide Care Competence Scale (SCCS; 18 items, 5 subscales). Scores range from 18 to 90; higher scores indicate greater suicide care competency. Turkish validity and reliability established by Erfidan and Büyükbayram Arslan (2026); Cronbach alpha=0.85.
Time frame: Baseline (pre-simulation) and immediately after debriefing (approximately 2 hours after baseline)
Change in Suicide Stigma Levels
Measured by the Stigma of Suicide Scale (SOSS; 55 items, 3 subscales: Stigmatization, Isolation/Depression, Glorification/Normalization). 5-point Likert scale. Turkish validity and reliability established by Öztürk, Akın and Durna (2017); Cronbach alpha=0.90.
Time frame: Baseline (pre-simulation) and immediately after debriefing (approximately 2 hours after baseline)
Self-Perceived Care Competency for Suicidal Patients
Single-item visual analog scale (0-10) from the Personal Information Form assessing students' self-perceived competency in caring for patients admitted due to suicidal attempt.
Time frame: Baseline only
Plan to share: No — Individual participant data will not be shared, as the study involves student participants whose confidentiality is protected under the ethics committee approval. Aggregate findings will be reported in peer-reviewed publications.
Ran from Oct 2026 to primary completion in Oct 2026, 0 months.
Of 162 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Social Stigma, half reached primary completion within 15 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 32. This study's 0 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 164 studies reached it within 15 months; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 32.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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