Building a foundation for brief motivational interviewing: communication to promote health literacy and behavior change.

Abstract

The use of collaborative communication styles such as motivational interviewing promotes patient engagement, health literacy, self-management, and improved outcomes for individuals with chronic illness. Brief motivational interviewing is an adaptation developed for use with medical populations in time-limited encounters. Inpatient nurses caring for individuals with chronic diagnoses may lack knowledge regarding brief motivational interviewing. This evidence-based quality improvement project used an online approach to introduce continuing education regarding brief motivational interviewing within the constraints of the inpatient setting. Nurses on four units in a community hospital completed a web-based learning module in preparation for context-based skills training. A significant increase in knowledge scores, combined with strong positive attitudes prior to and following the module, indicated a reliable foundation for skills training within the practice setting. Nurses' enhanced ability to recognize the practice of motivational interviewing in scenarios following online education supported the potential value of a hybrid approach to education.