Cue-responding during simulated routine nursing care: a mixed method study.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Communication Skills Training
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• Failure to recognize patient cues can lead to unmet psychosocial and information needs.
• Undergraduate nursing curricula require enhanced training in communication skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore nursing students' cue-responding behaviors in a simulated patient care setting.

Main Methods:

• Mixed methods approach utilizing video-taping of student-patient interactions.
• Individual debriefing interviews with students.
• Analysis of student-patient actor comments and focus group discussions.

Main Results:

• Only 12% of patient cues were explored, while 53% were met with distancing behaviors.
• Student communication patterns focused on task completion, using closed-ended questions and making assumptions.
• Overall cue-responding behavior was negative, with more distancing than acknowledgment.

Conclusions:

• Video-based feedback and debriefing enhance student self-awareness and reflection on communication.
• Emphasizing person-centered communication and cue-responding is vital for nursing education.
• Further research is needed to assess the transferability of these skills to clinical practice.