The Effectiveness of Group Counseling with Emphasis on Communication Skills on Midwifery Students’ Sense of Belonging in Clinical Settings

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of group counseling with emphasis on communication skills on midwifery students’ sense of belonging in clinical settings. Methods: This interventional study with the pre-test - post-test control group design was conducted on 78 midwifery students of Kerman Medical University, who were selected using the census method. Of the total study population, sixty students with low level of mental health were screened using Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire and randomly included in an intervention and a control group. They filled out Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience (BES-CPE) as the pre-test. The intervention consisted of eight group counseling sessions (two 2-hour sessions per week) with emphasis on communication skills that were held in their faculty. The final sample included fifty-two students filling out the post-test instruments. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22. Results: There was a significant difference between the groups in terms of total score (P < 0.0001) as well as the self-esteem and self-efficacy subscales (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Sense of belonging in clinical settings is required for midwifery students so that they can improve their communicaton skills in such settings. Therefore, it is recommended to include programs in midwifery curricula in order to improve students’ sense of belonging with enhancing their communication skills.