The Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Communication Skills Program for the Nursing Students of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences (Iran)

Effective communication requires proper communication skills. Improving the quality of communication skills is considered to be a global issue. The present study aimed to design, implement, and evaluate a communication skills programs for nursing students.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted using the consensus method on 52 fourth-year nursing students in the six steps of Kern. In the first and second stages, the needs of the students were assessed via focus group analysis and interviews. Correspondingly, the third step involved setting goals, including the clarification of the importance of communication skills, applying various communication models, performing various scenarios in apathetic, sympathetic, and empathetic roles, and determining the planning approach for parental meeting. In the fourth stage, various  methods (e.g., slides, scenarios, and role-playing) were applied as the effective strategies to achieve the goals. The processes were carried out in the clinical rooms of the Department of Nursing and Midwifery. In the fifth stage, various scenarios were performed by the students, and in the sixth stage, the applied communication skills by the students were evaluated based on a quasi-experimental method. Data analysis was performed in SPSS using dependent t-test.  

The mean score of all the communication skills of the student was 5.95±3.72, which increased to 13.93±3.03 after the intervention, and the difference in this regard was considered significant (P≤0.001).  

According to the results, the applied communication skills program could enhance the communication skills of the nursing students. Therefore, it is recommended that communication skills be integrated into the nursing curriculum to help nurses have proper interactions with patients.