It was aimed to evaluate the students’ views regarding the impact of the use of standardized patient practice in psychiatric nursing education on the clinical experience of the students.This study includes the qualitative part of the doctoral thesis with mixed method with the purpose of investigating the impact of the use of standardized patient (SP) practice in psychiatry nursing training on the motivation levels and learning experiences of the students. The data of this study was collected with focus group interviews. Data obtained from students consist of the learning experiences of thestudentscomprisingtheirpre-perceptions before having psychiatric nursing education, their awareness and acquisitions before clinical encountering and their experiences gain edduring clinical internship. For that reason, data was defined under learning experience category with the themes of preperception, before clinical encountering and clinical encountering. Students who participated in SP practice expressed the convenience of initiating and structuring the interview with the patient and their satisfaction about achieving this during their clinical internship. Students who did not participate in SP practice stated that they were anxious when communicating with their patients, they had some difficulties in initiating and structuring the interview and they felt the need to get support from their friends in the test group when conducting interviews with their patients during their clinical internship. It is recommended to encourage the educators and students for using standardized patient practice in the training of nurses and other healthcare professionals.

Keywords: psychiatry; standardized patient; clinical education