Developing Therapeutic Communication Skills: Integration of Standardized Client Simulation in an Associate Degree Nursing Program

By the year 2020, it is projected that there will be a shortage of 300,000 to one million registered nurses in the United States (Juraschek, Zhang, Ranganathan & Lin, 2012). Therapeutic communication skills are a fundamental and integral part of any registered nurse’s practice. Despite the importance of therapeutic communication, evidence suggests that the lack of skill development in nursing programs is having an adverse effect on the NCLEX-RN pass rate of graduating registered nurses. Identifying and addressing shortfalls in effective communication offers an opportunity to improve this pass rate. Learning to effectively communicate in a simulated situation will provide students an opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills of therapeutic communication. This doctoral project will provide the students an opportunity to practice their therapeutic communication skills as a clinical simulation integrated into the nursing curriculum. Two standardized client simulation scenarios were developed for this project. It is anticipated that having the opportunity to practice therapeutic communication skills and apply these skills to clinical situations, will ultimately improve the students’ confidence and the first-time pass rate for the NCLEX-RN exam