Teaching clinicians and nurses to prepare for and present at interdisciplinary meetings through behavioral skills training

Harper et al. (2023) worked with eight nurses and clinicians in a facility for kids with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The team used behavioral skills training (BST) to teach two skills: how to prep for an interdisciplinary meeting and how to present the data once there.

Each learner got a short demo, practiced with role-play, heard immediate feedback, and then tried again until they hit a large share of the checklist steps. The researchers tracked scores across several real meetings using a multiple-baseline design.

Every participant reached a large share correct steps after only two to four training rounds. The skills stayed strong one month later with no extra coaching.

Staff also said the training was easy to fit into their shift and helped them feel confident when speaking to doctors, therapists, and families.

Laske et al. (2022) showed the same BST steps work over Zoom. Their adults learned public-speaking skills remotely and still impressed expert judges. Harper’s in-person results match those remote gains, so delivery mode may not matter as long as the BST cycle stays intact.

Magnacca et al. (2022) trained ACT facilitators through telehealth and saw the same sharp climb to high fidelity. Together these studies tell us BST travels well—live, on video, or by phone—when the core pieces (model, practice, feedback) are kept.

Wheatley et al. (1978) did the first BST with residential staff forty-five years ago. Harper repeats that old win with today’s nurses, proving the method still works once the target skill is updated from teaching residents to presenting data in meetings.

If you run interdisciplinary meetings, you can copy this package: a two-page checklist, a ten-minute demo, and two quick role-plays. Your nurses and clinicians will walk in ready, talk with confidence, and keep the skill a month later—no long workshops or pricey consultants needed.