Person-centred communication: Design, implementation and evaluation of a communication skills module for undergraduate nursing students - an Irish context
Bridie McCarthy
Lecturer, School of Nursing & Midwifery, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Moira O'Donovan
Lecturer, School of Nursing & Midwifery, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Angela Twomey
Lecturer, School of Nursing & Midwifery, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
PP: 207
Abstract
Despite wide agreement about the importance of effective communication in nursing, there is continuing evidence of the need for nurses to improve their communication skills. Consequently, there is a growing demand for more therapeutic and person-centred communication courses.
Studies on communication education reveal considerable variability on the design and operationalisation of these programmes. Additionally, the literature highlights that nurse educators are continually challenged with developing and implementing these programmes. Communication skills are generally taught in years one and two of undergraduate nursing degree programmes. This is a stage when students have minimal contact with patients and clients.
We suggest that a communication skills module should be included in all final years of undergraduate nursing programmes. With an array of clinical experiences to draw from, final year nursing students are better placed to apply the skills of effective communication in practice. In this paper, we present the design, implementation and evaluation of an advanced communication skills module undertaken by fourth year undergraduate nursing students completing a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree-nursing programme at one university in the Republic of Ireland.
Keywords
communication skills, communication-training, nursing education, person-centred communication
References
Alasad J and Ahmad M (2005) Communication with critically ill patients. Journal of Advanced Nursing 50(4): 356-362.
Angelo T (1993) A teacher's dozen: fourteen general, research-based principles for improving higher learning in our classrooms. AAHE Bulletin 13 (April): 3-7.
Baikie K and Wilhelm K (2005) Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 11(1): 338-346.
Billings D and Halstead J (2005) Teaching in Nursing: A Guide for Faculty, 2nd edn, Elsevier, St. Louis.
Bradshaw J (2001) Complexity of staff communication and reported level of understanding skills in adults with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 4(3): 233-243.
Burnard P (1995) Learning Human Skills: An Experiential and Reflective Guide for Nurses, 3rd edn, Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann.
Caris-Verhallen W, Kerkstra A and Bensing J (1997) The role of communication in nursing care for elderly people: a review of the literature. Journal of Advanced Nursing 25(5): 915-933.
Chant S, Jenkinson T and Randle J (2002a) Communication skills: some problems in nursing education and practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing 11(1): 12-21.
Chant S, Jenkinson T, Randle J, Russell G and Webb C (2002b) Communication skills training in health care: a review of the literature. Nurse Education Today 22(3): 189-202.
Cleary M, Edwards C and Meehan T (1999) Factors influencing nurse-patient interaction in the acute psychiatric setting: an exploratory investigation. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing 8(3): 109-116.
Davies S, Rutledge C and Davies T (1997) The impact of student learning styles on interviewing skills and academic performance. Teaching and Learning in Medicine 9(2): 131-135.
DeSimone B (1994) Reinforcing communication skills while registered nurses simultaneously learn course content: a response to learning needs. Journal of Professional Nursing 10(3): 164-176.
English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (ENB) (2000) The extent to which educational programmes develop the skills required to communicate with people with disabilities. ENB, London, pp.9-47.
Eraut M (1982) What is learned in in-service education and how? British Journal of In-service Education 9(1): 6-14.
Fallowfield L and Jenkins V (1999) Effective communication skills are the key to good cancer care. European Journal of Cancer 35(11): 1592-97.
Faulkner A and Maguire P (1984) Teaching ward nurses to monitor cancer patients. Clinical Oncology 10(4): 383-389.
Fenstermacher G and Soltis J (1998) Approaches to Teaching. Teachers College Press, New York.
Festa L, Baliko B, Mangiafifico T and Jarosinski J (2000) Maximising learning outcomes by videotaping nursing students' interactions with a standardized patient. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing 38(5): 37-44.
Hartrick G (1997) Relational capacity: The foundation for interpersonal nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing 26(3): 523-528.
Hemsley B, Sigafoos J, Balandin S, Forbes R, Taylor C, Green V and Parmenter T (2001) Nursing the patient with severe communication impairment. Journal of Advanced Nursing 35(6): 827-835.
Hjorleifsdottir E and Carter D (2000) Communicating with terminally ill cancer patients and their families. Nurse Education Today 20(6): 646-653.
Hunter L (2002) Poetry as an aesthetic expression for nursing: a review. Journal of Advanced Nursing 40(2): 141-148.
Kruijver I, Kerkstra A, Francke A, Bensing J and van de Wiel H. (2000) Evaluation of communication training programs in nursing care: a review of the literature. Patient Education and Counselling 39(1): 129-145.
Kihlgren M, Hallgren A, Norberg A, Brane G and Karlsson I. (1990) Effects of the training of integrity - promoting care on the interaction at a long-term ward. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Science 4(1): 21-28.
Knowles M (1990) The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species. Gulf Publications, Houston
Kotecki C (2002) Baccalaureate nursing students' communication process in the clinical setting. Journal of Nursing Education 41(2): 61-68.
Marland G (2000) Cognitive deficits in Schizophrenia. Nursing Times 96(16): 43-44.
McCabe C (2004) Nurse-patient communication: an exploration of patients' experiences. Journal of Clinical Nursing 13(1): 41-49.
McCormack B and Wright J (1999) Achieving dignified care for older people through practice development: a systematic approach. Nursing Times Research 4(5): 340-352.
McKonkey R, Morris I and Purcell M (1999) Communications between staff and adults with intellectual disabilities in naturally occurring settings. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 43(3): 194-205.
Minardi H and Ritter S (1999) Recording skills practice on videotape can enhance learning - a comparative study between nurse lecturers and nursing students. Journal of Advanced Nursing 29(6): 1318-25.
Mottaghipour Y and Bickerton A (2005) The Pyramid of Family Care: A framework for family involvement with adult mental health services. Australian e-journal for the Advancement of mental Health 4(3): 1-8 www.auseinet.com/journal/vol4iss3/mottaghipor.pdf
Nicol M and Freeth D (1998) Assessment of clinical skills: a new approach to an old problem. Nurse Education Today 18(8): 601-609.
Poskiparta M, Liimatainen L and Kettunen T (1999) Nurses' self-reflection via videotaping to improve communication skills in health counselling, Patient Education and Counselling 36(1): 3-11.
Quinn F (2000) Principles and Practices of Nurse Education, 4th edn, Nelson Thornes, London.
Reece I and Walker S (1998) Teaching and Learning: A Practical Guide. Business Publications, Sunderland.
Reed J (1993) Teaching interpersonal communication skills, in Reed J and Procter S (Eds) Nurse Education: A Reflective Approach. Edwards and Arnold, London, pp. 39-62 .
Reynolds W, Scott P and Austin W (2000) Nursing, empathy and perception of the moral. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32(1): 235-242,
Rogers C (1969) Freedom to learn. Merrill, Ohio.
Rowles C and Brigham C (2005) Strategies to promote critical thinking and active learning, in Billings D and Halstead J (Eds), Teaching in Nursing: A Guide for Faculty, 2nd edn, Elsevier, St. Louis, pp. 283-315.
Schon D (1990) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Stevenson C, Greaves M and Stein-Parbury J (2004) Patient and Person: Empowering Interpersonal Relationships in Nursing. Churchill Livingstone, London.
Suikkala A and Leino-Kilpi H. (2005) Nursing student-patient relationship: experiences of students and patients. Nurse Education Today 25(5): 344-354.
Swadi H and Graham P (1998) An instruction to communication skills: six hours or one week - a pilot study. Education for Health 11(1): 89-92.
Tuohy D (2003) Student nurse-older person communication. Nurse Education Today 23(1): 19-26.
Vydelingum V (2000) South Asian patients lived experience of acute care in an English hospital: a phenomenological study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32(1): 100-107.
Whalley J and Patton H (1999) Freedom of speech: promoting the use of counseling skills. Mental Health Nursing 19(1): 20-23.
Wikstrom B (2003) Health professionals' experience of paintings as a conversation instrument: a communication strategy at a nursing home in Sweden. Applied Nursing Research 16(3): 184-188.
Yallom I (1995) The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, 4th edn, Basic Books, New York.
eContent Home
