Communication skills education and training in pre-registration BSc Nursing

Nursing and Midwifery Council educational standards in BSc (Hons) Nursing require students to gain key communication competences to deliver compassionate care in adult, mental health, learning disabilities, and children’s nursing. Competences include using a range of verbal and non-verbal skills to build therapeutic relationships, being respectful of confidential information, addressing diversity issues, and promoting well-being and personal safety. Nurses also need to make reasonable adjustment for patients with disabilities to ensure effective communication. High fidelity simulations using actors and clinical practice scenarios have been evaluated positively with statistically significant results, suggesting the benefits apply to all students in the classroom—although students who participate in a simulation benefit to a greater extent. Other faculty mixed-methods research led to the development of recommendations for communication skills in learning disabilities nursing. Challenges include realistic simulation in children’s nursing and developing adequate numbers of actors and facilitators, partially offset by offering in-house training.