Designing and implementing asynchronous online deliberate practice to develop interprofessional communication competency.

ABSTRACT

Communicating with healthcare providers is a core tenant in the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses and Institute of Medicine teamwork and collaboration competency but remains a major concern for pre-licensure nursing students and novice nurses. Pre-licensure nursing students rarely have opportunities to practice interprofessional communication skills with other healthcare providers even though lack of this skill competency may lead to patient harm. This article explores the feasibility of using story-guided online deliberate practice sessions as an educational strategy to improve students' interprofessional critical communication competency. The design and testing of asynchronous online deliberate practice session prototypes is described and the implementation and evaluation of two online deliberate practice sessions into a nursing course is reported. The online format provided students with convenient opportunities to develop competency in critical communication skills using SBAR in a safe environment. Results from the prototype testing and student evaluation indicated that students had an overall positive experience. The online deliberate practice sessions provided a low-cost, flexible practice experience to develop critical communication skills and were evaluated as highly satisfactory and easy to navigate. The optimal number of practice sessions needed to attain competency, retain skills, and impact patient outcomes require further longitudinal study.