2012 Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 1-12
Purpose：To clarify the learning items of stepwise communication skills for each grade stage in a bachelor of nursing course.
Method：A questionnaire survey was conducted three times using the Delphi method. Requests for participation in the study were sent to 103 nursing faculty members with ≥10 years’ experience and involvement in communication skills in nursing universities. The subjects were 60 of these faculty members from whom consent was obtained. In the first round, 53 communication skills items were extracted from books used in nursing education. Twenty-six items extracted from free description were added, and 79 were used in both rounds 2 and 3. Communication skills items for which ≥50% of subjects responded were necessary in each academic year were judged to be items for which “agreement was obtained.”
Results and Discussion：The skills that need to be acquired by students at each grade level were shown. For first-year students, there were 21 items, including grooming and appearance and salutations, and they are necessary as skills for human relations in society. For second-year students, there were 2 items related to understanding of patients. For third-year students, there were 8 items that are utilized in nursing professionalism and that promote conversation. For fourth-year students, communication skills that incorporated consideration of patients’ conditions, rather than acquisition of new skills, were necessary.
