Other Titles
Rapid Presentation Round
Abstract
Therapeutic communication is an essential part of nursing care. Therapeutic communication (TC) is the process of using verbal and nonverbal communication to connect with patients.TC is holistic, patient-centered and involves aspects of the physiological, psychological, environmental and spiritual care of the patient. Poor communication in the healthcare setting can lead to poor patient outcomes such as, decreased adherence to treatment, patient's dissatisfaction, inefficient use of resources and even death. Studies have shown that nurses lack communication skills due to a variety reasons from inadequate training, the lack of understanding of the importance of patient-centered communication, and the increased generational use of technology to communicate with others. Consequently, nursing professors must find active and effective ways to foster communication skills in the education of nursing students. Extensive analysis was performed to determine if there was an effective competency based education (CBE) tool to measure communication skills in pre-licensure nursing students. After an exhaustive search no instrument was found. The research team found an instrument used for medical students and with permission from the authors edited it for nursing use. The instrument is intended to measure competency of communication in pre-licensure nursing students. The instrument is aligned with the BSN essential domains that contain elements of communication. The instrument measures effective communication in a simulation lab or in the clinical setting and is leveled to the degree of expectations for a student at that academic year (eg, sophomore, junior or senior). The instrument is being piloted in two four year pre-licensure BSN programs in New Jersey. IRB approval was obtained from both institutions and data is collected through a QR code. For clinicals, nursing students are asked to evaluate themselves each week at the end of their clinical day and faculty are asked to evaluate the students using the instrument mid-semester and end of semester. In the simulation setting during the debrief, students are asked to evaluate themselves in their roll as the nurse, and their peers and simulation faculty are also asked to evaluate them using the instrument. Students and Faculty are asked to utilize the instrument throughout the academic year. At the end of the pilot year data will be analyzed for reliability and validity of the instrument.
Notes
References included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Alpha Tau
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Communication, Therapeutic Communication, Nursing Education, Nursing Students, Pre-licensure Nursing Students
Recommended Citation
Perron, Tracy J.; Lebo, Chelsea; Thomas, Mary Louise; and Zemer, Romy, "The Evaluation of Therapeutic Communication in Competency Based Nursing Education" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 16.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/16
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-02-11
The Evaluation of Therapeutic Communication in Competency Based Nursing Education
Washington, DC, USA
Therapeutic communication is an essential part of nursing care. Therapeutic communication (TC) is the process of using verbal and nonverbal communication to connect with patients.TC is holistic, patient-centered and involves aspects of the physiological, psychological, environmental and spiritual care of the patient. Poor communication in the healthcare setting can lead to poor patient outcomes such as, decreased adherence to treatment, patient's dissatisfaction, inefficient use of resources and even death. Studies have shown that nurses lack communication skills due to a variety reasons from inadequate training, the lack of understanding of the importance of patient-centered communication, and the increased generational use of technology to communicate with others. Consequently, nursing professors must find active and effective ways to foster communication skills in the education of nursing students. Extensive analysis was performed to determine if there was an effective competency based education (CBE) tool to measure communication skills in pre-licensure nursing students. After an exhaustive search no instrument was found. The research team found an instrument used for medical students and with permission from the authors edited it for nursing use. The instrument is intended to measure competency of communication in pre-licensure nursing students. The instrument is aligned with the BSN essential domains that contain elements of communication. The instrument measures effective communication in a simulation lab or in the clinical setting and is leveled to the degree of expectations for a student at that academic year (eg, sophomore, junior or senior). The instrument is being piloted in two four year pre-licensure BSN programs in New Jersey. IRB approval was obtained from both institutions and data is collected through a QR code. For clinicals, nursing students are asked to evaluate themselves each week at the end of their clinical day and faculty are asked to evaluate the students using the instrument mid-semester and end of semester. In the simulation setting during the debrief, students are asked to evaluate themselves in their roll as the nurse, and their peers and simulation faculty are also asked to evaluate them using the instrument. Students and Faculty are asked to utilize the instrument throughout the academic year. At the end of the pilot year data will be analyzed for reliability and validity of the instrument.
Description
Studies have shown that nurses lack communication skills for a variety of reasons, from inadequate training, lack of understanding of the importance of patient-centered communication, and the increased generational use of technology to communicate with others. Consequently, nursing professors must find effective ways to foster communication skills in nursing students.