Teaching therapeutic communication in a first year undergraduate nursing course : innovation in action

Therapeutic communication is fundamental to the nurse client relationship. As such nurse academics involved in undergraduate nursing education have a responsibility to ensure this occurs throughout the program. Therapeutic communication is a skill and therefore cannot easily be taught using a didactic approach. The challenge is how to create realistic scenarios for learners who are yet to experience the real clinical environment, but at the same time prepare them with communication skills necessary to establish therapeutic nurse client relationships. This presentation describes the process of embedding therapeutic communication into a year 1, semester 1 foundations of nursing subject. This included a highly innovative teaching approach which constructs human situations and responses and provides learners with the opportunity to practice the requisite skills and techniques in a realistic, safe and non threatening environment. In this presentation the audience will directly experience the pedagogical approach which underpins the teaching of therapeutic communication. The audience will have the opportunity to see ‘first hand’ how the realism of the technique can both challenge and motivate the learner. The paper will then move to provide an outline of the course, the simulation technique and the pedagogy behind it. The final part of the paper will present the future directions of the technique in terms of how it can be transferred into other learning contexts where communication is integral.