Development and Evaluation of Extracurricular Coaching Programs for Improving Communication Skills and Leadership among Nursing Students

Bae, Su Hyun; Park, Jeong Sook

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to develop extracurricular coaching programs to improve communication skills and leadership for nursing students and evaluate the effects of the programs.
METHODS
The 8-week extracurricular coaching program was developed based on the Joo, Whitmore and Hong models. A quasi-experimental design was used. The subjects were selected by two full-time nursing professors training students at one university in city G. The subjects were chosen from among the advisees of these two professors. Of the students who participated in this study, 29 were in the experimental group and 27 were in the control group. Data was analyzed through t-test and Mann Whitney U-test.
RESULTS
The experimental group showed significantly higher post-test scores in communication skills, communication as a nursing outcome, observation of communication, leadership, and leadership as a nursing outcome than those of the control group. However, the experimental group did not reveal significantly higher post-test scores in the number of leadership activities using a portfolio than those of the control group.
CONCLUSION
This extracurricular coaching program can help cultivate important, basic grounding as well as achieve nursing student learning outcomes upon graduation.