Cross-disciplinary collaboration to facilitate clinical communication workshops for undergraduate nursing students

This paper explores the development and implementation of a clinical communication workshop (CCW) program for undergraduate nursing students at a multi-campus School of Nursing and Midwifery in an Australian university located in the culturally diverse region of Western Sydney. The Clinical Communication Workshops were conducted over three days each quarter in non-teaching periods of the semester. Although the workshops were available to all nursing students, they were specifically designed to improve skills in spoken and written English as an additional language (EAL) for students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Developing skills in the confident and effective use of communication in English for nursing has been identified as critical to student success in their studies and on clinical placements. Nursing academics designed and delivered the CCW program in collaboration with academic literacy support staff qualified in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). First, the paper reviews the initial development of the CCW intervention based on findings from an exploratory study of students who were referred for support to develop communication skills for clinical placements. Second, there is reflection on the development of this cross-disciplinary collaboration to co-construct innovative and interactive workshops which enhanced the communication skills of students for conversations in healthcare and nurse-patient interactions using colloquialisms, nursing terminology and documentation in handover. Reflection on the findings from the CCW intervention and program development indicate that interdisciplinary collaboration can be effectively used to improve the confidence and competence of students in communication skills for nursing. Development of these skills is vital to patient-centred care and ensuring patient safety in healthcare environments. Third, a change management tool used retrospectively was applied to reflect on the cross-disciplinary collaboration and processes of embedding the language and literacy support into the School as a continuing clinical communication program. This CCW strategy may be transferable in developing support in clinical communication skills for students in similar nursing school contexts.