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A longitudinal evaluation of a communication skills programme.
S Wilkinson1, K Bailey, J Aldridge
1Caring Services Research, Marie Curie Cancer Care, London, UK.
Palliative Medicine
|February 5, 2000
Summary
Nurses maintained communication skills long-term after training, showing improvement in psychological assessment. This suggests integrated training enhances confidence in emotional care, justifying its cost for better nurse-patient interactions.
Area of Science:
- Palliative Care Nursing
- Healthcare Communication
- Professional Development
Background:
- Patient and family dissatisfaction with healthcare communication is common.
- Communication challenges are a significant stressor for health professionals.
- Existing training programs aim to improve healthcare communication skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a communication skills training program for nurses.
- To assess whether nurses maintained improved communication skills 2.5 years post-training.
- To identify key components of the training that contribute to sustained skill improvement.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal follow-up study of 110 nurses who completed an initial communication skills training program.
- Data collected from 33 nurses who returned usable information 2.5 years after the original training.
- Statistical analysis of nine areas of assessment skills, including psychological assessment.
Main Results:
- Nurses maintained statistically significant communication skills in eight of nine assessed areas.
- A statistically significant improvement was observed in the area of psychological assessment.
- Nurses reported increased confidence in handling emotional aspects of patient care post-training.
Conclusions:
- The integrated communication skills training program demonstrated long-term effectiveness in maintaining and improving nurses' skills.
- Key training elements, including audio-tape feedback and experiential workshops, likely contributed to sustained improvements.
- The findings support the cost-effectiveness of integrated training for enhancing the quality of nurse-patient interactions.
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