Enhancing Delivery of High‐Quality Communication at Discharge: A Pilot Study of Presence Circles With Nursing Students

Nurse-caregiver communication at discharge is critical to ongoing care of the patient but is often hindered by system-level barriers. Meaningful interpersonal encounters, or presence, are known to enhance clinical interactions amidst system-level demands. Nursing students (16) were randomly assigned to an intervention or control arm of the study. Nursing students in the intervention group participated in Presence Circles and a simulated discharge conversation with a standardized caregiver. Nursing students in the control arm participated in the simulated discharge conversation only. Nursing students completed pre-post surveys and standardized caregivers completed post-conversation surveys. Pre versus post, nursing students in the intervention group reported increases in presence behaviors but no difference in effective communication. Compared to the control group, nursing students in the intervention group identified themselves as engaging in more effective communication. Caregivers also reported more presence behaviors and effective communication when compared to nursing students. Results point to a possible shift in more presence behaviors following the intervention; however, a larger study is needed to demonstrate substantial behavior change.