Artificial Intelligence Aids Students in Mastering Patient Assessments

While most medical appointments begin with a health care professional simply asking the patient or patient’s caregiver, “What brings you here today?”, the series of questions that follows involve a prescribed set of topics that are essential in developing an accurate patient assessment.

To prepare students in the BSN and master’s-level nurse practitioner tracks for these situations, faculty are employing SimConverse, a technology that simulates live conversations between nurses and patients. Generative artificial intelligence (AI), which is trained on large data sets and language models, powers the interactive technology with instant responses to the questions students ask their virtual patients.

Gail Furman, PhD, RN, CHSE-A, Executive Director of the Simulation and Learning Resource Center and Clinical Professor, says that while standardized patients (individuals trained to act as patients) are ideal for simulations, they can be costly and are not always available. She sees SimConverse as a constructive, easily accessible tool to refine students’ patient communication skills and ultimately deliver thorough and accurate assessments.

“Faculty select the patients and customize the scenarios to match the current needs of our students,” she said, emphasizing that simulation should feel supportive to students. “It’s an online, imaginary scenario where students can practice from the comfort of home, as many times as they want, to continually improve.”

Simulated situations may range from a knee replacement discharge where the patient’s pain management and mobility are compromised, to a parent presenting a child with a bedwetting problem, to an infant’s allergic reaction to a bee sting, or atrial fibrillation in an older adult.

When a simulated assessment conversation is complete, SimConverse provides instant, personalized feedback to the student and faculty member. Behavior-specific insights for students to learn from are aligned with learning rubrics based on health issues and behaviors.