Professionalism topics, such as communication, are sometimes difficult to teach in nursing programs. Nonetheless, they should be infused into nursing foundational courses. Although it is easy to assume communication techniques are well understood, this is a topic that is critically important for self-reflection and personal growth. With communication as a cornerstone of health care, nurses are expected to communicate effectively. To help bring communication skills to life for prelicensure nursing students, the movie Wit1 is an excellent interactive teaching method to illustrate communication, or a lack of it. Wit is based on the life of a woman diagnosed with cancer and her journey through chemotherapy treatment. The types of communication seen within the film relate to ethical issues, bedside manner, and physician/nurse-patient interactions. With the various communication situations, Wit can be used to challenge nursing students to examine the effects of their interactions with clients in the clinical and community settings. Implementing Wit as a teaching tool for communication can provide an opportunity for students to compare the various interactions with the client, physician, and nurse. After reflecting on the various exchanges, the students can then write or verbalize as a group how they would have handled the situation or communicated differently. It is vital for nursing students to understand that a simple choice of words can influence their interactions among clients and have an impact on patient outcomes. Human compassion is the heart of health care.
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