Undergraduate paramedic students and interpersonal communication development: a scoping review

Area of Science:

• Paramedicine Education
• Communication Skills Training
• Healthcare Professional Development

Background:

• Interpersonal communication is crucial for paramedics, impacting patient outcomes and safety.
• Paramedicine regulatory bodies mandate communication skills, making university training essential.
• Undergraduate programs must equip graduates with vital communication competencies for industry readiness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing literature on interpersonal communication skill development in undergraduate paramedicine.
• To identify effective educational strategies and learning experiences for enhancing these skills.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review of articles published between 2011 and 2021.
• Searches conducted across CINAHL, Medline, Emcare, and ERIC databases.
• Inclusion criteria based on a Population, Concept, Context (PCC) framework focusing on undergraduate paramedic students and communication training.

Main Results:

• Fifteen eligible articles were identified from an initial search of 176.
• Key themes included graduate 'work readiness', work-integrated learning (WIL), patient interactions, and professional learning.
• Interpersonal communication skills are fostered through human interactions, WIL, and simulation.

Conclusions:

• Practice through human interactions boosts confidence, empathy, and bias awareness.
• Simulation-based training enhances communication confidence and teamwork skills.
• Undergraduate paramedicine curricula should integrate diverse methods to cultivate essential communication skills.