The use of teaching methods in communication training of nurses at universities

From the perspective of modern nursing as a regulated profession, the quality of provided care is evaluated not only with the focus on performance but also on communication skills, which increase this quality as well as the overall saturation efficiency of patient's needs. The application of modern teaching methods in the process of acquiring communication skills is essential in the professional preparation of nurses. This contribution has a cross-sectional quantitative study design based on a questionnaire survey. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the use of teaching methods in the communication preparation of nurses at universities in the Czech and Slovak Republics, including the results of the research carried out. Data collection was performed using an anonymous non-standardised questionnaire survey. The questionnaire items were focused on the use of teaching methods in subjects in nurse-patient communication subjects. The research group consisted of students of the first and second years of the full-time General Nurse bachelor study programme from universities and colleges in the Czech and Slovak Republics, who have completed communication lessons or related subjects. The final amount of processed and applicable questionnaires was 1267 (81.74%) of the total number of questionnaires sent. To process the data, the following statistical methods were used: data exploration analysis, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The results confirm the retreat from the concept of “traditional lessons” to lessons where discussion dominates. However, the use of alternative teaching methods, such as role-play, was referred to as occasional by the majority of respondents. By increasing the frequency of using non-traditional teaching methods, there will be a greater acquisition of communication skills and hence a better quality of nursing care overall.