A Robotic Mental Health Simulation Intervention to Enhance Professional Identity, Interpersonal Communication Competence, and Emotional Intelligence Among Saudi Nursing Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study

A quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test, and three-month follow-up design will be used. Nursing students assigned to the intervention group will participate in structured robotic mental health simulation sessions involving interactions with a robot programmed to portray patients experiencing common psychiatric conditions, while the control group will receive traditional teaching methods. Outcomes will be assessed using validated measures of professional identity, interpersonal communication competence, and emotional intelligence before the intervention, immediately after completion, and three months later to determine both immediate and sustained educational effects