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Communication skills are essential for the shared decision-making process when managing patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. However, there is no standardised, structured training program currently available in Australia for nephrology trainees. We aim to evaluate participant experience in nephrology-specific communication workshops for delivering serious news.
We conducted two nephrology-specific communication workshops in 2023 for nephrology trainees and nurses in Australia: one national workshop and one state-wide workshop. The workshops were developed based on the VitalTalk methodology, an evidence-based curriculum involving small group roleplays with simulated patients and trained facilitators. Using the self-reported participant surveys collected at the completion of the workshops, we examined the effectiveness of the workshop delivery, acquisition of communication skills, and interest for future communication skill practice sessions.
Of 26 participants who attended the two nephrology-specific workshops, 14 nephrology trainees attended the half-day national workshop, and 4 nephrology trainees and 8 nephrology nurses attended the full-day state-wide workshop. For self-reported scores (1 = strongly disagree, 5= strongly agree), the overall satisfaction scores were 4.9 (interquartile range [IQR] 4.8-5.0) for the national workshop and 4.9 (IQR 4.8-5.0) for the state-wide workshop. Roleplay with simulated patients was considered effective (median 5, IQR 5-5), and the training sessions were considered enjoyable (median 5, IQR 5-5) in both workshops. Majority of the participants agreed the workshop provided training of new skills (median 5, IQR 4-5, mean 4.7) and would recommend the workshop to others (median 5, IQR 5-5).
Nephrology-specific, structured communication training was considered useful, effective, and enjoyable by participants across different training experience and skill levels. Incorporating such training workshop to all nephrology training programs could standardise professional quality of nephrology trainees and ensure holistic patient care with both emotional and cognitive supports from the health professionals.