The effect of film-assisted communication education on therapeutic communication skills, reflective thinking and empathy levels of nursing assistant department students

Working with a sick individual is a phenomenon that requires not only caregiving but also being in communication with the patient and their relatives, as well as being able to empathize with the patient and their relatives. In the current study, it was conducted to determine the effect of film-assisted communication education on therapeutic communication skills, reflective thinking and empathy levels of 11th and 12th grade students studying in the health vocational high school. In the study, one group pretest-posttest design, which is one of the Semi-Experimental Design types, was used. The universe and sample of the study consists of 11th and 12th grade students in Yerköy İbn-i Sina Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in the 2021-2022 academic year. Before the communication lesson, the questionnaires for the therapeutic communication skills scale, the reflective thinking skills scale for problem solving, and the empathy level determination scale were filled in for nursing students, and the films Patch Adams and the Sea Inside were watched immediately after. The films were screened on different days in the same week. After each movie, communication skills within the framework of theoretical knowledge were discussed with the students for 1 hour. After analyzing the film with the students in the classroom, they were asked to fill out the same questionnaires again. In total, a study was conducted with 140 students from the nurse assistant department. According to the sociodemographic characteristics of the students, the mean age of the students was 16.96±,690 and 61.4% of them were female. 61.4% of the students evaluated their financial situation as good and 71.4% were 12th grade students. 78.6% of the students stated that they chose the health department where they were educated voluntarily. All students were taking the communication course for the first time. When the pre-test and post-test values of the Nursing Students' Therapeutic Communication Skills Scale, the Problem Solving Reflective Thinking Scale and the Empathy Level Determination Scale were compared, a statistically significant increase was observed between the total scores and sub-dimensions of the scales (p<0.05). As a result, it is seen that an innovative educational strategy using movies can be used to teach communication skills to nurse and/or nurse assistant students.