Midwifery students' solution-focused thinking and communication skills: A cross sectional study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Nursing and Midwifery Education

Background:

• Solution-focused approaches are increasingly recognized in healthcare education.
• Developing effective communication and problem-solving skills is crucial for midwifery students.
• Existing research on solution-focused skills in midwifery education is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the solution-focused thinking and communication skills of midwifery students.
• To explore the relationship between these skills and academic progression (grade level).
• To identify the predictive power of solution-focused thinking on communication skills.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional research design.
• Involved 183 midwifery students.
• Utilized the Student Information Form (SIF), Solution Focused Inventory (SFI), and Solution Focality in Communication Scale (SFCS).

Main Results:

• A significant difference was observed in solution-focused thinking and communication skills between first- and fourth-grade students (p<0.05).
• Fourth-grade students demonstrated higher mean scores in both solution-focused thinking and communication compared to first-grade students.
• A significant positive correlation (p<0.05) exists between students' solution-focused thinking and communication skills.
• Solution-focused thinking skills significantly predicted solution-focused communication skills, explaining 13.1% of the variance.

Conclusions:

• Midwifery students' solution-focused thinking and communication skills are at a moderate level.
• These skills are influenced by academic year/grade level.
• Enhancing solution-focused thinking is likely to improve solution-focused communication abilities in future midwives.