Professional presentation skills development in a graduate nursing program

Background: Expert communication skills are essential for nurse leaders to effectively influence health care. Because effective communication is a learned process, the curriculum should promote the development of presentation skills. An educational strategy was designed to promote the development of effective presentation skills for learners in the Nursing Leadership and Administration (NLA) track of the master’s in nursing curriculum. Method: Sixteen learners in the NLA cohort were participants in a three-session presentation skills workshop. Following a baseline presentation, participants were taught presentation strategies and skills. Expert evaluators and learner self-assessments rated their presentation skills. Results: Analysis of evaluators’ ratings showed statistically signifi cant (p< .001) increases in learners’ presentation effectiveness. Analysis of learner self-ratings showed a statistically significant (p = .008) increase in perceived effectiveness of overall presentation skills. Conclusion: This unique educational intervention improved nurse leaders’ presentation skills. Faculty found that the professional presentation skill workshop was important to learners’ success.