Simulation to Enhance Communication Skills in Neonatal Nursing Practice

Effective communication is essential to the delivery of safe, quality health care. Handoff reporting, situational reporting, interprofessional collaboration, caregiver communication, and team huddles are forms of status reporting and communication common in a neonatal nursing practice. Adequate training for health care professionals on effective communication techniques is often lacking. Simulation provides a method to develop and refine necessary communication skills for neonatal health care professionals and affords the opportunity for the learner to immerse into realistic clinical scenarios. The purpose of this article is to review communication techniques in the neonatal setting and describe methods of utilizing simulation to enhance communication skills for neonatal nursing practice.