Development and evaluation of a learner-centered training course on communication skills for baccalaureate nursing students

Background: There is no standardized or formal communication skills training in the current nursing curriculum in Macao, China. Objectives: To develop and evaluate a learner-centered communication skills training course. Design: Both qualitative and quantitative designs were used in two separate stages. Settings and participants: A randomized sample and a convenience sample were taken from students on a four-year bachelor's degree program at a public institute in Macao. Methods: Stage I consisted of developing a learner-centered communication skills training course using four focus groups (n=32). Stage II evaluated the training's efficacy by comparing communication skills, clinical interaction, interpersonal dysfunction, and social problem-solving abilities using a quasi-experimental longitudinal pre-post design among 62 nursing students. A course evaluation form was also used. Results: Content analysis was used to evaluate the essential themes in order to develop the specific content and teaching strategies of the course. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed significant improvement in all post-training scores for communication ability, content of communication, and handling of communication barriers. According to the mean scores of the course evaluation form, students were generally very-satisfied with the course: 6.11 to 6.74 on a scale of 1 to 7. Conclusions: This study showed that the course was effective in improving communication skills, especially in terms of the content and the handling of communication barriers. The course filled an important gap in the training needs of nursing students in Macao. The importance of these findings and their implications for nursing education are discussed. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.