Using standardized patients to assess communication skills in medical and nursing Students

Abstract

BackgroundA number of recent developments in medical and nursing education have highlighted the importance of communication and consultation skills (CCS). Although such skills are taught in all medical and nursing undergraduate curriculums, there is no comprehensive screening or assessment programme of CCS using professionally trained Standardized Patients Educators (SPE's) in Ireland. This study was designed to test the content, process and acceptability of a screening programme in CCS with Irish medical and nursing students using trained SPE's and a previously validated global rating scale for CCS.MethodsEight tutors from the Schools of Nursing and Medicine at University College Cork were trained in the use of a validated communication skills and attitudes holistic assessment tool. A total of forty six medical students (Year 2 of 5) and sixty four nursing students (Year 2/3 of 4) were selected to under go individual CCS assessment by the tutors via an SPE led scenario. Immediate formative feedback was provided by the SPE's for the students. Students who did not pass the assessment were referred for remediation CCS learning.ResultsAlmost three quarters of medical students (33/46; 72%) and 81% of nursing students (56/64) passed the CCS assessment in both communication and attitudes categories. All nursing students had English as their first language. Nine of thirteen medical students referred for enhanced learning in CCS did not have English as their first language.ConclusionsA significant proportion of both medical and nursing students required referral for enhanced training in CCS. Medical students requiring enhanced training were more likely not to have English as a first language.

A Study of Reliability and Validity an Attitude Scale towards Simulation- Based Education

“…Nursing is an occupation that requires building of psychomotor and behavioral skill in addition to cognitive skills and therefore has been largely affected from fast paced developments in the field of science and technology [1][2][3]. Nursing students must trained in leadership, teamwork, evidenced-based practice, open communication, learning from mistakes for their actions [13].…”

“…In the nursing education the psychomotor skills are acquired at the professional skills laboratory. Simulation is gaining popularity as a means to provide innovative clinical learning experiences that bridging the gap between theory and practice in nursing education [3,4]. The growing complexities of patient care require nurses to master not only knowledge and procedural skills but also the ability to effectively communicate with patients, relatives, and other health care providers and also to coordinate a variety of patient care activities [5,6].…”

Preparing Occupational Therapy Students for the Complexities of Clinical Practice

“…The instructional methodologies in the adult practice course (e.g., SPs and case-based discussions) were chosen to facilitate students' internal drive to learn and excel. The health care literature supports the use of SPs as an effective means to hone clinical skills (Ryan et al, 2010).…”

Evaluation of Public Health Education Program through Students's Feedback at Balıkesir School of Health, Department of Midwifery

“…Benzer olarak tıp fakültesi öğrencileri ile yapılan iletişim becerileri ile ilgili çalışmalarda eğitim programlarının iletişim becerilerini kazanmada etkili ve yararlı olduğu, eğitimin sonunda kendilerini yeterli hissettikleri ayrıca bireysel gelişimlerine katkı sağladığı saptanmıştır 6,8,9,10 . Hemşirelik eğitiminde ise iletişim becerilerinin çok önemli olduğu ve eğitim programı uygulandıktan sonra iletişim becerilerinin gelişmesinde etkili olduğu saptanmıştır 11,12,13 . Çalışmada öğrencilerin gebe muayenesini başarı ile yaptıklarını belirtmeleri, halk sağlığı müfredat konuları içinde planlanması ve pekiştirilmesi açısından eğitim programında birinci basamakta gebeye verilen koruyucu hizmetlerin gerekliliğini ortaya koyması açısından önemli bir değerlendirmedir.…”