Nursing faculty traditionally use role-play to demonstrate mental health behaviors. However, until students interact with a mental health patient, they may not know what to expect. Standardized patient (SP) interactions can be used to overcome this challenge. This study compared pre-licensure nursing students' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy following a sequence of psychiatric mental health role-play and SP experiences. Results suggest that the order of teaching strategies (role-play first versus SP interaction first) does not significantly impact student knowledge, attitude, or self-efficacy. However, student scores improved in all categories after the second experience.