COVID 19-transformed nursing education and communication competency: Testing COMFORT educational resources.

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a disruption to nurse education for both nursing faculty and students as all non-clinical nurse education courses worldwide moved to distance or online learning. The sudden shift to online education meant the loss of traditional activities for students to learn communication skills creating a critical demand for open educational resources for students and nursing faculty. Tools to support nursing faculty development for teaching communication are nearly non-existent and pedagogical content knowledge is needed.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to test two COMFORT COVID-19 Communication Modules (PPE and Video/Phone) for undergraduate nursing students and evaluate student communication competency post-intervention.

DESIGN

This pre-post study includes qualitative and quantitative data collected to evaluate student communication competency post-intervention.

SETTINGS

Undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students at four university campuses in the Pacific and MidSouth regions of the United States.

PARTICIPANTS

BSN nursing students (n = 197) predominantly in the third year of study (n = 138, 70%).

METHODS

Students completed online modules as part of a nursing course. Faculty provided information and a link to access online learning modules. A pre-post assessment was completed for each module.

RESULTS

Significant statistical differences were found across variables of communication attitude, knowledge, and skill across both modules.

CONCLUSIONS

As nursing education in the United States shifts to competency-based education which emphasizes skill development across the BSN program, it is imperative to establish communication learning objectives that are measurable and ensure communication theory and evidence-based practice is part of curriculum content.