Interpersonal and communication skills development in general nursing preceptorship education and training programmes: A scoping review

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this systematic scoping review is to examine and synthesise the available literature on developing interpersonal and communication skills in general nursing preceptorship education programmes.

Background: Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills are an essential component of nursing preceptorship. Preceptors are integral in facilitating, guiding, and developing positive interpersonal relationships between the nursing student (the preceptee), the qualified nurse (the preceptor), and patients. They also have a responsibility to foster and develop preceptees' interpersonal and communication skills and assess and deem preceptees as competent in such skills. Furthermore, preceptors require effective interpersonal and communication skills to carry out key responsibilities of their role, including creating a safe clinical learning environment, teaching, and providing effective feedback.

Design: A scoping review was conducted using the methodological framework of Arksey and O'Malley. The PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews guided the reporting.

Methods: Five electronic databases were searched for relevant articles in consultation with a librarian, supplemented by hand-searching and internet searches for grey literature. A total of 19,431 potentially relevant articles published between Jan 2000 and August 2021 were retrieved from the initial search, and an additional six articles were obtained from the supplemental search. A total of 146 articles were independently reviewed by two researchers, resulting in 24 articles eligible for inclusion in the review.

Results: Several themes were identified in the literature that influenced the development of interpersonal and communication skills in preceptorship education and training programmes, including design and development of programmes, key learning outcomes, pedagogical approaches of preceptorship education and training programmes and interpersonal & communication skills development in preceptorship education and training programmes. Conclusions This review highlighted that research on developing interpersonal and communication skills amongst preceptors is mainly absent from the literature. Further research to address these knowledge gaps is warranted. The results from this review can be used to inform future curriculum design and development of nursing preceptorship education and training programmes.

Keywords: Interpersonal and communication skills; Nursing preceptorship; Pedagogy; Preceptorship education and training; Soft skills.