Sensory Restriction Simulation Training for Nursing Student Empathy and Communication (GENE)

September 21, 2026 updated by: Volkan Gokmen

The Effect of the Reality-Integrated Quality Education (GENE) Approach With Sensory Restriction Simulations on Nursing Students' Empathy, Communication, and Patient-Centered Care Skills

This study evaluates the effect of the Reality-Integrated Quality Education (GENE) approach, an educational intervention using sensory restriction simulations (vision, hearing, speech, and movement restriction), on empathy, communication skills, patience, psychological resilience, and patient-centered care competency among third-year nursing students. Sixty nursing students will be randomly allocated to an experimental group (n=30), who will complete a single 30-45 minute GENE simulation session, or a control group (n=30), who will receive standard theoretical empathy education without the simulation component. Outcomes will be assessed immediately before and after the session using the Turkish versions of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Nursing Student (JSE-NS), a Communication Skills Inventory, a Patience Scale, the Brief Resilience Scale, and a Patient-Centered Care Competency Scale. The investigators hypothesize that participation in the GENE sensory restriction simulations will produce greater short-term gains in empathy, communication, patience, resilience, and patient-centered care competency than theoretical education alone.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Empathy, effective communication, and patient-centered care are core competencies for nursing practice, and are traditionally taught through classroom-based theoretical instruction. Sensory restriction simulation is proposed as an experiential teaching strategy in which learners temporarily experience a restriction analogous to a patient's sensory or functional limitation, with the aim of building experiential understanding rather than only conceptual knowledge.

This study uses a quasi-experimental, randomized, pretest-posttest, parallel-group design to evaluate the Reality-Integrated Quality Education (GENE) approach in a single center: the Nursing Department of Agri Ibrahim Cecen University. A pool of 60 third-year nursing students will be randomly allocated to an experimental group (n=30) or a control group (n=30).

The experimental group will complete the GENE model, a four-stage sensory restriction simulation sequence lasting approximately 30-45 minutes in total, comprising sequential simulated restriction of vision, hearing, speech, and movement, each paired with simulated patient-care tasks and structured post-simulation debriefing and feedback (recorded via a post-simulation feedback form). The control group will receive standard theoretical education on empathy and patient-centered care without the simulation component. This is an educational/behavioral intervention rather than a drug, biologic, or device intervention; the study's primary purpose is therefore classified as "Other" (educational intervention effectiveness) rather than treatment, prevention, diagnostic, or supportive care.

Primary and secondary outcomes are assessed once before and once after the session (same day) using the following instruments, all administered in their validated Turkish-language versions: the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Nursing Student (JSE-NS) for empathy; a Communication Skills Inventory; a Patience Scale; the Brief Resilience Scale; and a Patient-Centered Care Competency Scale (HMBY). An application/intake form (Participant Introduction Form) is used to record participant demographic and background characteristics before randomization.

Planned statistical analysis will use Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 29). Normality of distributions will be assessed with the Shapiro-Wilk test. Depending on distributional assumptions, within-group pre-post changes and between-group (experimental vs. control) comparisons will be analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) or, for non-normally distributed data, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann-Whitney U test, with Bonferroni correction applied for multiple comparisons. Effect sizes will be calculated and reported alongside p-values.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
      • Ağrı, Turkey (Türkiye)
        • Agri Ibrahim Cecen University Faculty of Health Sciences
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Volkan Gokmen, PhD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Currently enrolled as a third-year nursing student in the Nursing Department of Agri Ibrahim Cecen University
  • Voluntary agreement to participate and provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Declining to provide informed consent
  • Not currently enrolled as a third-year nursing student in the Nursing Department of Agri Ibrahim Cecen University

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: GENE Sensory Restriction Simulation Group

Participants complete the GENE model: a single 30-45 minute sequence of four sequential sensory restriction simulations (vision, hearing, speech, and movement restriction), each paired with simulated patient-care tasks, followed by structured debriefing and feedback.
Behavioral: GENE Sensory Restriction Simulation Training

A single 30-45 minute educational simulation session consisting of four sequential sensory restriction stages (vision, hearing, speech, and movement restriction), each combined with simulated patient-care tasks, followed by structured debriefing and feedback using a post-simulation feedback form.
Active Comparator: Control Group

Participants receive standard theoretical education on empathy and patient-centered care, without the GENE sensory restriction simulation component.
Behavioral: Standard Theoretical Empathy Education

Standard classroom-based theoretical education on empathy and patient-centered care, without the GENE sensory restriction simulation component.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Empathy Level (JSE-NS)
Time Frame: Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)

Change in empathy from before to immediately after the session, measured with the Turkish version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Nursing Student (JSE-NS). Higher scores indicate greater empathy.
Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Communication Skills
Time Frame: Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)

Change in communication skills from before to immediately after the session, measured with the Turkish version of the Communication Skills Inventory. Higher scores indicate better communication skills.
Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)
Change in Patience
Time Frame: Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)

Change in patience from before to immediately after the session, measured with the Turkish version of the Patience Scale. Higher scores indicate greater patience.
Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)
Change in Psychological Resilience
Time Frame: Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)

Change in psychological resilience from before to immediately after the session, measured with the Turkish version of the Brief Resilience Scale. Higher scores indicate greater resilience.
Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)
Change in Patient-Centered Care Competency (HMBY)
Time Frame: Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)

Change in patient-centered care competency from before to immediately after the session, measured with the Patient-Centered Care Competency Scale (HMBY). Higher scores indicate greater competency.
Baseline (immediately before the session) and immediately after the session (same day)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Volkan Gokmen

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Volkan Gokmen, PhD, Agri Ibrahim Cecen University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 16, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 16, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 21, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AICU-GENE-2026
  • TUBITAK 2209-A (2025 Cycle) (Other Grant/Funding Number: The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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