Effects of Motivational Interviewing Training on Nursing Students' Counselling Skills, Self-Efficacy, and Reluctance

The Effect of Motivational Interviewing-Based Communication Training on Nursing Students' Counseling Skills, Self-Efficacy, and Reluctance in Communication

This research is designed to determine the effect of motivational interview-based communication training on nursing students' counselling skills, communication self-efficacy, and communication reluctance levels. The project will be conducted using a randomised controlled experimental design. The sample will consist of 72 second-year nursing students studying at the Department of Nursing, Ankara University Faculty of Nursing. Participants will be randomly assigned to experimental (n=36) and control (n=36) groups. The experimental group will receive motivational interview-based communication training, while the control group will receive training on basic communication and interpersonal interaction skills in nursing. The training will consist of five sessions; theoretical sessions will be 60 minutes each, and the standard patient interview practice to be applied to the experimental group will last three days. The standard patient interview practices will be conducted in the Communication Skills Laboratory of Ankara University Faculty of Nursing. The research data will be collected using a Demographic Information Form, the Counselling Skills Scale for Nurses, the Effective Communication Self-Efficacy Inventory, and the Communication Reluctance Scale, through pre-test, post-test, and follow-up measurements. Additionally, the project plans to train individuals to assume the role of a standard patient in the communication skills laboratory, creating a standard patient pool that can be used in future training and research. The project expects that motivational interview-based communication training will strengthen nursing students' counselling skills and communication self-efficacy, and reduce communication reluctance. The results are intended to provide a scientific contribution to the planning and development of communication training in nursing education programs.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Health Communication; Professional Competence
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing Communication Training; Behavioral: Basic Communication and Interpersonal Interaction Skills Training in Nursing

Detailed Description

The study population will consist of 745 nursing students studying at the Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Ankara University, and the sample will consist of 187 second-year nursing students. Since there was no pilot data, the sample size was determined using the G*Power 3.1 program. According to the power analysis, for a two-group design with three repeated measures, the number of participants was calculated as at least 66, with a type 1 error of 0.05, a power of 0.90, and a moderate effect size (0.25). To prevent possible data loss, the sample size was increased by approximately 10%, bringing the total number of participants to 72. A total of 72 students, 36 in the experimental group and 36 in the control group, will be randomly included in the study. Data Collection Process: In the first stage of the study, in order to create a standard patient pool and to determine the standard patients to be trained in the standard patient application phase of the project, a call for participation will be made to students of the Department of Theatre at the Faculty of Language and History-Geography, Ankara University, through the department, including the participation conditions. Volunteer students who fill out the participation form via Google Forms will attend the training given by the researchers at the Faculty of Nursing to receive standard patient training. In the next phase of the research, students will be invited to participate after being informed about the scope and content of the research. Students interested in participating in the research will be evaluated according to the inclusion criteria, and the contact information of the students who meet the criteria will be collected to form a group. In the next phase, the students in this group will be randomly assigned to groups: 36 students in the experimental group and 36 students in the control group. Students in both the experimental and control groups who agree to participate in the study and fill out the voluntary consent form will be given data collection tools as a pre-test face-to-face. Then, students will be randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group will receive "Motivational Interview-Based Communication Training." The control group will receive "Basic Communication and Interpersonal Interaction Skills in Nursing" training, the content of which is provided in the appendix, face-to-face. The control group's training will consist of a total of five sessions, each lasting 60 minutes. The experimental group's training will consist of four 60-minute theoretical sessions and one practical session involving interviewing a standard patient. The standard patient application session will last three days. For these sessions, a total of six standard patients will be used from the pool created at the beginning of the research: three primary and three reserve patients who wish to participate in the application. The participants will be trained by researchers on the scenarios, and three of them will serve as standard patients in the interview sessions. Standard patient interviews will be conducted in three standard patient interview rooms located in the communication skills laboratory. A total of 18 interviews will be conducted: six in each room in the morning and six in each room in the afternoon. Thus, the interviews of 36 students in the experimental group for one scenario will be completed in one day. After the morning interviews are completed, the recordings of one of the interviews from that session will be reviewed with the participation of the research team and the students who completed their interviews, and analysis sessions will be held based on feedback. The same process will be applied to the second and third scenarios. Immediately after all training sessions are completed, data collection tools will be administered to both groups as a final test, and follow-up measurements will be taken after three months. All stages of the study will be conducted face-to-face. The data collection process will be carried out in coordination with the faculty members to accommodate the students' schedules and not disrupt the coursework.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 72
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Yasemin Çekiç Associate Professor, PhD; Phone Number: +90 544 771 99 97; Email: ycekic@ankara.edu.tr
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Naciye Karabulut Research Assistant, MSc; Phone Number: 05368758037; Email: ncykarabulut@ankara.edu.tr

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Ankara
    • Ankara, Ankara, Turkey (Türkiye), 06340
      • Ankara University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being a second-year nursing student
• Volunteering to participate in the research
• Not having communication problems that would prevent answering data collection forms

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having communication problems that would prevent answering data collection forms
• Being a 1st, 3rd or 4th year nursing student

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental Group; Participants in the experimental group will receive a structured communication training program based on motivational interviewing principles. The program will consist of five sessions, including theoretical instruction, role-play exercises, and skill practice activities aimed at improving counselling skills, communication self-efficacy, and reducing reluctance in communication.	Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing Communication Training; Participants in the experimental group will receive a structured communication training program based on motivational interviewing principles. The program will consist of five weekly sessions. The first four sessions will be conducted as theoretical and interactive training, including lectures, group discussions, and skill-based exercises. The final session will be conducted in a communication skills lab and will involve role-playing and practical counseling skills practice using simulated scenarios and standardized patients.
Active Comparator: Control Group; Participants in the control group will receive face-to-face training on basic communication and interpersonal interaction skills in nursing. This training will be delivered using standard educational methods, including lectures and interactive discussions. Participants in this group will not receive motivational interviewing-based communication training during the study period.	Behavioral: Basic Communication and Interpersonal Interaction Skills Training in Nursing; Participants in the control group will receive a traditional communication training program consisting of five theoretical sessions. The sessions will include lectures on fundamental communication and interpersonal interaction skills in nursing. Motivational interviewing techniques or structured skills practice sessions will not be included. Each session will last approximately 60 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Counselling Skills Level	Counselling Skills Scale for Nurses: The scale consists of 10 items and a single factor. It uses a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Never, 5 = Always). The minimum possible score is 10, and the maximum is 50. A higher overall score indicates better consulting skills. The reliability coefficient of the scale is Cronbach's alpha 0.88.	Baseline, Immediately Post-Intervention, 3-Month Follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Communication Self-Efficacy	Effective Communication Self-Efficacy Inventory: The inventory consists of three sub-dimensions: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. It is a 41-item inventory scored on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (1: I'm not well at all, 5: I'm very well). The lowest possible score is 41, and the highest is 205. Higher scores indicate greater self-efficacy in effective communication. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) results for the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor subscales showed Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficients of α=0.92, α=0.92, and α=0.87, respectively. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) results showed Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficients of α=0.89, α=0.90, and α=0.83, respectively.	Baseline, Immediately Post-Intervention, 3-Month Follow-up
Reluctance in Communication	Communication Reluctance Scale: The scale consists of two sub-dimensions, approach-avoidance and reward, and a total of 20 statements. The scale uses a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 5 = Strongly agree). The lowest possible score is 20, and the highest is 100. A higher total score indicates greater communication reluctance. The reliability coefficient of the scale is Cronbach's alpha 0.95.	Baseline, Immediately Post-Intervention, 3-Month Follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ankara University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 16, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 19, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 25, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 19, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: motivational interviewing; nursing students; communication skills; counseling skills; communication self-efficacy; communication reluctance
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Professional Practice; Organization and Administration; Health Services Administration; Nursing
• Other Study ID Numbers: AU-YC-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data will not be publicly shared due to confidentiality and privacy considerations. Data will be available from the corresponding investigator upon reasonable request.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No