F.A. Davis Teaching Soft Skills

F.A. Davis Teaching Soft Skills | Meaningful communication, adaptability, time management, and empathy

Teaching Soft Skills TO HEALTH PROFESSIONS STUDENTS

Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN Managing Director Collaborative Momentum Consulting

MATE § Meaningful Communication § Adaptability § Time Management § Empathy

The increasingly complex health care system, with the expanding role expectations for all disciplines, complicates the responsibilities of health professions educators, making it difficult to prepare students to provide care in a “high-tech” world. Yet at the center of all care provided are the needs of the patients. Some of these needs are physiological, but others are psychological. Regardless of the complexity of the care to be provided, clinicians must have “soft skills” to interpret and respond to the specific needs of each individual patient.

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Importance of Soft Skills in the Workplace 1. The importance of soft skills in any workplace was highlighted in a 2018 research study by the Stanford Research Institute International and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation. Assessing the opinions of Fortune 500 CEOs, the study found that 75% of long-term job success depended upon people skills, while only 25% depended on job-related success. In addition, researchers at Harvard University, Boston University, and University of Michigan found that workers in all industries who are given soft skills training are 1% more productive than those without them. This small percentage translates into a 256% return on investment (ROI) for the company (Hansen, 2018). 1 The need for soft skills among health care providers is particularly important, because an interaction between a patient and a caregiver in the health care environment represents some of the most important moments in that patient’s lifetime. Unfortunately, a soft skills gap in the abilities of health care workers appears to be present in today’s health care environment. Davis (2020) suggests that the shift in focus in the education system, the demands of technology, and the stress associated with staff responsibilities may compound this deficit. 2 Given the personal and economic impact of soft skills in all types of health care environments, health professions instructors have an obligation to provide learning activities to prepare new graduates to effectively use these skills. Numerous soft skills are important when interacting with patients, families, and other members of the interdisciplinary team. However, four skills, Meaningful Communication, Adaptability, Time Management, and Empathy (MATE) , are essential to success in the health care arena (and other parts of one’s life as well)! Most instructors agree that these four skills are very important, but how can they be integrated into the student’s course of study? How can faculty provide opportunities for students to gain the MATE skills, while also emphasizing cognitive and psychomotor competencies that are also necessary and often more easily evaluated? Learning MATE Skills 2. The first step in providing learning opportunities to develop MATE skills is to demonstrate the importance of such skills in the health care environment. Providing examples of various patient outcomes based upon a caregiver’s communication skills, adaptability, time management, or empathy can help students understand the importance of such skills. For example, Theresa Brown, in Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient , tells a story of her experience with a radiologist’s office staff. The day she was told she had a mass in her breast, she was trying to schedule an immediate appointment for a biopsy and was told that the office scheduler had just left the office. “ You just missed her; she leaves at 3 pm .” (It was exactly 3 pm at the time of this interaction.) 3 The office staff made no effort to help in any other way. Asking students to reflect on the way they would feel as a patient in such a situation emphasizes how important meaningful communication can be. Secondly, students should be able to reflect upon their own skills and develop strategies to improve in the areas in which they find themselves weak. An evaluation and reflection tool to assist with this endeavor can be found on the last page of this paper.

Teaching Strategies 3. What follows are examples of teaching strategies to assist students in developing MATE skills. Meaningful Communication

Students should be given opportunities to practice meaningful communication in a variety of situations, including those where conflict or heightened emotions are present. Role playing or analysis of case studies that focus on communication problems and provide an opportunity for constructive feedback can be highly effective. Table A provides some principles of meaningful communication which students should integrate into their communications. Table A: Principles of Meaningful Communication

Component

Principles

Examples

Active Listening Purpose: To focus

§ Be attentive; maintain eye contact, if appropriate. § Take time to listen to the full story without interrupting. § Allow for silence. Silence allows time to think. § Ask for clarification or repetition of statements to understand. § Listen without judgment. § Set your reactions aside and focus on the feeling.

your attention on the listening process and demonstrate to the other person that you ARE listening. Paraphrasing Purpose: To make sure that you have heard and understood what the other person has said by stating in your own words what you understand the other person to be saying. Reflective Listening Purpose: To make sure that you have understood what the other person is feeling, even though they may not have expressed the feelings.

Look the person in the face; use good eye contact.

“So, what I hear you saying is…” “If I hear you correctly…”

§ Listen carefully to what is said, focusing on key words. § Paraphrasing is appropriate to use before moving on to another subject.

“That must make you feel…” “It sounds like you were really feeling…” “If I were in your shoes, I might have concerns about that also.” “I can see why you’re feeling…” “You have really worked hard this last year. I know it has been difficult.”

§ Reflecting the other person’s feelings back to them so they know they have been heard. § The difference between paraphrasing and reflective listening is that in paraphrasing you are only summarizing what the person has said. With reflective listening, you are going beyond sum- marizing to identifying feelings that the person may not have identified, but their words and attitudes point to such feelings. § Listen carefully. § Make a mental note of key points. § Notice how you are feeling. § Ask yourself how you would feel if you were in that situation as you listen to them share the experience.

Affirmation Purpose: To provide support for the other person and reflect on the other person’s feelings.

§ Statements that recognize and validate a person’s strengths and acknowledge that the person has been harmed.

Adapted from (Gounaris, M., 2014) 4

As important as these principles are to effective communication, an additional concept is also important. You will notice that the MATE Skills Evaluation and Reflection Instrument at the end of this paper states: “ Kindness is an integral part of my communication .” This statement demonstrates how central kindness is to meaningful communication. Communication that does not have the elements of kindness such as being considerate, courteous, helpful, and understanding of others cannot be meaningful. On the other hand, showing care, compassion, friendship, generosity and treating others as you would like to be treated is the definition of kindness. Adaptability Adaptability refers to the ability to adjust to different conditions or circumstances, often without sufficient time to think. In health care, unpredictability is predictable, and health care providers must be able to change course depending on the priority of the moment. Clinical case studies can provide opportunities for students to practice thinking critically about quickly evolving priorities. Instructors may also provide opportunities for students to practice being adaptable by requiring an unexpected change to some aspect of the class. Importantly, after students have responded to the change, the instructor must discuss the purpose of the change (i.e., to provide students an opportunity to adapt quickly) and debrief them to provide an opportunity to discuss their feelings and behaviors during the change. As students move through their course of study, they will also likely have opportunities to experience unexpected changes that were not manufactured. Faculty should be available to help students make the necessary decisions and evaluate their responses in these circumstances. Time Management Managing one’s time to be most effective is also a critical soft skill. This skill requires a person to differentiate between what is urgent or not and what is important or not. The important and urgent items must be done first, followed by the important, non-urgent tasks. Those items that are urgent but not important should be done third and the non-important, non-urgent tasks should be done last, or not at all. Faculty can make this point by requiring students to evaluate tasks they must complete according to the urgent- not urgent, important-not important quadrants. In this assignment, instructors must encourage students to make a to-do list and avoid multi-tasking. In addition, faculty should help students estimate the amount of time required to complete a task and to accurately develop to-do lists that fit the students’ schedules. 5 (https:// squareup.com/us/en/townsquare/7-time-management-skills-practiced-by-successful-people). Empathy Empathy is the ability to identify with another person by sharing in their perspective and feelings. Teaching assignments related to the development of empathy should focus on the feelings of the student and the extent to which students can sense the emotions of others. For example, the instructor might ask students to share (virtually or face-to-face) how they use one of the soft skills, along with a time that they felt the skill made a difference in an interpersonal interaction. Developing empathetic relationships begins with small talk that encourages sharing of non-threatening personal information. To help students learn the art of small talk, instructors can ask them to develop notecards with general questions one might use to start a conversation written on them. Instructors give students the opportunity to practice small talk in a variety of settings (class, clinical experiences or externships, or any place where students may not be accustomed to conversing with people they do not know). Students should be required to practice the “three p’s” of small talk: being polite, positive, and professional. After these “small talk” assignments, the students should be required to reflect on the assignment. Reflection helps students find relevance and meaning in learning and make connections between educational experiences and real-life situations. The instructor can support this reflection through: § Drafting a one-minute paper § Writing a journal entry or blog § Creating a video § Reading the reflection aloud in class or small groups 6

Conclusion 5. Theresa Brown, in Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient , said, “ People failed me when I was a patient and I failed patients when working as a nurse. I see that now .” 7 At least some of these failures may be connected to a lack of soft skills. If health care professionals are honest, Brown’s statement applies to most of us. Focus- ing on soft skills in our own practice and preparing students to use meaningful communication, adaptability, time management, and empathy are important for improving health care for all patients. MATE Skills Evaluation and Reflection MATE Skills Evaluation and Reflection Meaningful Communication Always Sometimes Rarely Never Kindness is an integral part of my communication.

I give the person to whom I am speaking my full attention. I use active listening when communicating with others. I ask questions to fully understand what others are saying. Areas of strength in Meaningful Communication:

Areas for improvement in Meaningful Communication:

Adaptability

Always Sometimes Rarely Never

I am flexible when changing circumstances affect my work. I avoid blaming others for changing what needs to be done. I tend to face problems and move forward, rather than looking back. I like new challenges. Areas of strength in Adaptability:

Areas for improvement in Adaptability:

Time Management

Always Sometimes Rarely Never

I develop a plan for proceeding before I begin to tackle tasks or assignments. I prioritize tasks or assignments according to their importance. I do not procrastinate when starting new tasks or assignments.

I complete tasks or assignments on time. Areas of strength in Time Management:

Areas for improvement in Time Management:

Empathy

Always Sometimes Rarely Never

I am aware of my own feelings. I am aware of the emotional state of another person. I engage with others and share these emotions. I take action to support other people. Areas of strength in Empathy:

Areas for improvement in Empathy:

References 6. 1 Hansen, M. (2018). How to develop and train for soft skills in the workplace. eLearning Industry. https:// elearningindustry.com/soft-skills-in-the-workplace-develop-train. Accessed 2022. 2 Davis, L. (2020). An absence of essential pharmacy times skills in the current health care landscape. Phar- macy Times. May 12. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/an-absence-of-essential-skills-in-the-current- healthcare-landscape. Accessed 2022.

3 Brown, T. (2022). Healing: When a nurse becomes a patient. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

4 Gounaris, M. (2014). Therapeutic Communication Slide Presentation. Slide Serve. https://www.slideserve. com/mimis/therapeutic-communication Accessed 2022. 5 The Square Editorial Team (2021). 7 time management skills practiced by successful people. Town Square Business Resources. 10.01. https://squareup.com/us/en/townsquare/7-time-management-skills-prac- ticed-by-successful-people#:~:text=Pitfall%201%3A,prioritize%20your%20activities. Accessed 2022. 6 The Realityworks Team (2022). 15 Tips for Teaching Soft Skills (Online or in the Classroom). Realityworks. https://www.realityworks.com/blog/15-tips-for-teaching-soft-skills-online-or-in-the-classroom/. Accessed 2022.

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About the author Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN , is a nationally recognized speaker and consultant with over 10 years of consulting experience, providing program development and other consultation services to nursing and health professions programs throughout the United States and Canada. Previously, she served as Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Human Services at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.

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