Basic Nursing 1st Edition by Judith Wilkinson, Leslie Treas

Exercise 26

Ammentorp, J., Sabroe, S., Kofoed, P. E., et al. (2007).The effect of training in communication skills on medical doctors' and nurses' self-efficacy:A randomized controlled trial. Patient Education and Counseling, 66(3), 270-277.
This research investigated the effect of communication skills training on doctors' and nurses' self-efficacy. (Self-efficacy is the extent to which you believe that you are capable of performing actions that influence events and outcomes, for example patient outcomes.) One group of clinicians received a 5-day communication course; the control group did not. Clinicians who participated in the communication course improved their self-efficacy for specific communication tasks by up to 37%.The improvements remained constant for the following 6 months. Researchers concluded that communication skills training can improve clinicians' evaluation of their ability to perform a specific communication task.
Edwards, N., Peterson, W. E., Davies, B. L. (2006). Evaluation of a multiple component intervention to support the implementation of a"therapeutic relationships" best practice guideline on nurses' communication skills. Patient Education and Counseling, 63(1-2), 3-11.
Researchers tested an intervention to assist nurses to implement the best practice guideline of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario for establishing therapeutic relationships. They read client scenarios aloud and asked nurses to respond verbally as though they were interacting with the client. They measured the frequency and quality of nurses' active listening, initiating, and assertiveness skills before and after implementation of the guideline. After implementation of the guideline, they found a significant decrease in the number of active listening skills used, but a significant improvement in the quality of active listening and initiating skills. They also found increased frequency of initiating skills. They concluded that nurses demonstrated improvements in select communication skills.
Suppose you are an in-service educator in a hospital. You have decided to institute a hospital education program to train nurses in a few specific communication skills. Use the above studies to provide rationale for your decision. Write a brief statement explaining why your decision is reasonable.