Soft Skills Teaching by Top-Ranked U.S. Nursing Faculty

Abstract

Background: Although prior studies demonstrate that “soft skills” are necessary for workplace success, few consider the emphasis faculty place on teaching soft skills. This study reports how top-ranked U.S. nursing faculty prepare students for success by incorporating soft skills training into their courses. Method: Data were collected with an online survey distributed in spring 2020 to approximately 2,000 faculty at 25 top-ranked nursing schools. Responses were solicited from those who have taught bachelor's and master's students within the past 2 years. Of 165 respondents who started the survey, 144 finished (7%). Results: Most nursing faculty view soft skills as important and feel at least some responsibility for teaching those skills. Conclusion: This study indicates that a majority of faculty are teaching a range of soft skills and that when they teach those skills, they are also likely to provide students with feedback. [ J Nurs Educ . 2021;60(8):437–443.]

Moral courage, job-esteem, and social responsibility in disaster relief nurses

“…51 To fulfill these responsibilities, disaster relief nurses must learn about management culture, undertake research tasks, understand the role of nursing research in promoting the development of the discipline, establish the correct outlook on life and values, and strengthen their awareness of personal social responsibility, promoting the spirit of responsibility. 52 These efforts will contribute to the progress and development of the nursing discipline. 52 This may be related to the fact that the nurses in this group mainly come from clinical frontlines in different regions and hospitals of different grades in Hunan, China, and have a heavy workload in clinical work, as well as a lack of self-evaluation and research ability.…”

“…52 These efforts will contribute to the progress and development of the nursing discipline. 52 This may be related to the fact that the nurses in this group mainly come from clinical frontlines in different regions and hospitals of different grades in Hunan, China, and have a heavy workload in clinical work, as well as a lack of self-evaluation and research ability. Social responsibility has the attribute of “based on the learner” 53 and is considered to be an attitude and skill of learning.…”

Teaching and Assessing Soft Skills for Health and Education Professionals: A Scoping Review

“…The reviewed articles covered teaching strategies embedded in professional training curricula and specifically designed training courses. Despite a move towards active learning and incorporating hands on experiences into the training across both reviewed fields, lectures and group discussions were still widely used, especially in embedded curricula (Bajjaly & Saunders, 2021;Gonzalez et al, 2013;Hassan et al, 2015;Imwattana et al, 2020;Mailool et al, 2020;Meiners & Wisdom, 2020). It is recognised that while lectures are not as effective in engaging students in active learning (Imwattana et al, 2020), it takes time for teaching staff to change the way they deliver material within the tertiary education structure.…”

“…There is also an emerging discussion in the literature with regards to promoting inclusion, diversity, and equality (Bajjaly & Saunders, 2021;Mailool et al, 2020). Although both articles highlight the Similarly, the use of the omnibus search term "soft skills", rather than individual soft skills, may have biased the sample of literature reviewed.…”