The Effect of Using Teach-Back Method in Patient Education on Communication Skills of Nursing Students

The key to playing a role in the nursing profession is proper communication; communication skills have been described as one of the most important and necessary characteristics for nurses. There are several approaches to developing professional communication in nurse-patient interaction. This study determined the effect of using the teach-back method in patient education on the communication skills of nursing students

This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2020. The study sample consisted of 81 nursing students of Islamic Azad University, Yazd Branch, who were undergoing internship in the field, and were randomly assigned into two groups (41 in the control group and 40 in the experimental group). The experimental group was taught how to teach the patient using the teach-back method and they were asked to teach the patients in this way. The control group conventionally performed patient education. The data collection tool was a communication skills questionnaire that was completed by both groups before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, Chi-Square, and t-test) using SPSS version 20.

The total scores of communication skills of nursing students were 70.80±6.71 and 70.67±4.50, respectively, in the control and experimental groups before intervention. Studentschr('39') communication skills after training to the patient by nursing students increased in both control (88.65±4.88) and experimental (110.17±3.62) groups. The difference between the experimental and control group after the intervention was significant (P<0.05).

Based on the findings, patient education using a teach-back method significantly improves studentschr('39') communication skills. Therefore, nursing educators can use this method and other strategies of increasing interaction in curriculum planning to improve studentschr('39') communication skills.