In the approved research project by the Community-Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, titled "Design and Evaluation of the Effectiveness of an Intelligent Simulator for Effective Communication with Patients on Nursing Students' Satisfaction, Self-Efficacy, and Caregiving Behavior," the focus is on the design and effectiveness of an intelligent simulator for nursing students' communication with patients with mental disorders.

Psychiatric care emphasizes the use of therapeutic communication when interacting with patients. However, establishing proper and effective communication with patients suffering from mental disorders can be challenging for students. To date, no simulator has been designed for learning effective communication in psychiatric settings. Therefore, this research project involves the design and evaluation of an intelligent simulator for nursing students’ effective communication with patients with mental disorders in psychiatric settings.

The simulator design will utilize the latest HTML, JavaScript techniques, and the most advanced software for designing forms, templates, and menus to ensure ease of use for the user. The systematic development of the simulator will be done in five stages following the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). For the design and planning of the communication skills simulator, interviews with experts (qualitative stage), a review of extensive literature, international standards related to mental health education, and guidelines and reference books on communication principles will be used.

The simulator program includes interactions with virtual patients and receiving appropriate feedback. After registration using their student ID and logging into the system, users will be introduced to the psychiatric ward and its surroundings through an initial graphic design and can also access educational content on communication skills with patients suffering from four common mental disorders (Anxiety Disorder, Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and Psychotic Disorder) through the educational tab.

The simulator will provide various scenarios in the form of four modules or mental disorders (Anxiety Disorder, Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and Psychotic Disorder), each involving 5 to 10 communication skills between the nurse and the patient. After the introduction of each patient, the user will take on the role of the nurse and interact with virtual patients in scenarios representing clinical situations for the four mentioned disorders. During these interactions, the user will be asked situational questions and will choose an appropriate response from multiple-choice options. Feedback will be provided based on the correctness of their response. If the response is incorrect, the correct answer will be provided as a reminder.

In addition to evaluating users during each scenario, there will be an overall evaluation of users' knowledge about communication skills with patients suffering from mental disorders before and after using the simulator, using multiple-choice questions. The simulator also allows tracking of users' answers, storing their responses and scores on the website, providing feedback, and generating reports for both users and website administrators.

Throughout the design and development of the simulator's structure and content, ethical considerations, such as the use of virtual patients, adherence to the patient rights charter, and compliance with professional standards and guidelines, are prioritized to ensure proper communication with patients and the protection of their privacy.