Awareness of how I am and how I want to be when communicating with people in need of care - Nursing students' experiences of theoretical and practical training in person-centred communication.

AIM: To explore nursing students' experiences of what they had learned and gained through participating in simulation-based communication training anchored in person-centred values.

BACKGROUND

Person-centredness is a core component of nurses' work and an important part of it is person-centred communication. To promote patients' wellbeing and comfort, nursing students must become prepared during their education to conduct communication based on person-centred values.

METHOD: Written reflections (n = 319) from nursing students were collected and eighteen nursing students who had participated in simulated communication training anchored in person-centred values, based on the ComPerCe model, were interviewed. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse data.

RESULTS

The analysis resulted in one theme and five categories. The theme Awareness of how I am as a person and how I want to be as a nurse when communicating with people in need of care encapsulates five categories. The nursing students gained insight into what hindered and helped them in the communication. They gained confidence and courage to face emotional expressions and recognized the importance of communication based on person-centred values in the role as a nurse.

CONCLUSIONS

Active participation in simulation-based training on person-centred communication according to the ComPerCe model allowed the students to develop insights into how to communicate on person-centred values and to recognize their shortcomings and identify areas for improvement. This study describes a training model and the outcomes perceived by students, contributing to the existing literature on simulation-based training and communication training in nursing education.