The implementation and evaluation of a communication skills training program for oncology nurses

Abstract

Many nurses express difficulty in communicating with their patients, especially in oncology settings where there are numerous challenges and high-stake decisions during the course of diagnosis and treatment. Providing specific training in communication skills is one way to enhance the communication between nurses and their patients. We developed and implemented a communication skills training program for nurses, consisting of three teaching modules: responding empathically to patients; discussing death, dying, and end-of-life goals of care; and responding to challenging interactions with families. Training included didactic and experiential small group role plays. This paper presents results on program evaluation, self-efficacy, and behavioral demonstration of learned communication skills. Three hundred forty-two inpatient oncology nurses participated in a 1-day communication skills training program and completed course evaluations, self-reports, and pre- and post-standardized patient assessments. Participants rated the training favorably, and they reported significant gains in self-efficacy in their ability to communicate with patients in various contexts. Participants also demonstrated significant improvement in several empathic skills, as well as in clarifying skill. Our work demonstrates that implementation of a nurse communication skills training program at a major cancer center is feasible and acceptable and has a significant impact on participants' self-efficacy and uptake of communication skills.

A rigorous evaluation of an institutionally-based communication skills program for post-graduate oncology trainees

“…In addition to our program continuing locally, the Comskil model has also been used to support the development of a program for oncology nurses [31], is used internationally in Australia and Qatar [32, 33], and has been incorporated in a major textbook about communication in cancer care [34]. Future research should continue to explore how to improve transfer from learning to clinical practice and how to use communication skills interventions to help address patient care challenges.…”

Care staff’s self-efficacy regarding end-of-life communication in the long-term care setting: Results of the PACE cross-sectional study in six European countries

“…Communication training strategies for healthcare providers can improve self-efficacy towards communicating with patients and increase communication performance (Banerjee et al, 2017, Brown et al, 2009, Gulbrandsen et al, 2013, Hsu et al, 2014, Liu et al, 2007.…”

“…A low perceived self-efficacy among healthcare providers has been identified as a factor contributing to a lack of discussing difficult issues with patients (Mirand et al, 2002, Yoast et al, 2008 while an improved sense of self-efficacy is accompanied by improved communication practices (Banerjee et al, 2017, Gulbrandsen et al, 2013, Liu et al, 2007.…”

Interpersonal communication between nurses and hospitalized patients - a review of Polish literature

“…The above training programme dealt with four areas of communication skills: 1/ empathy in communication with the patient; 2/ discussing nursing goals; 3/ discussing death and dying; 4/ communication with the patient in difficult family situation. [1] It has been observed that foreign researchers conducted qualitative research more frequently. Shafipour et al interviewed nurses and patients about job dissatisfaction; routine care and distrust concerning the nurses' competences.…”

“…All authors agreed on the need for further research in this area. [1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,15,16,17,18].…”