Teaching Communication as a Clinical Skill for Breast Cancer Care

One in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime,¹ and each diagnosis brings a patient, and often a family, into a conversation that nurses must be ready to lead. At Jersey College School of Nursing, preparing students for those conversations is treated as part of clinical training rather than an afterthought.

In the first installment of a 3-part series, Oncology Nursing News spoke with Daisy Molina, EdD, MSN, RNC-LRN, campus director of Jersey College School of Nursing's Teterboro, New Jersey, campus, about how the program teaches communication as a clinical skill and what students learn about delivering difficult news. Molina has been with Jersey College for about 16 years; she became a registered nurse at 19, and her specialty is neonatal intensive care and maternity nursing.

Part 2 of the series addresses how nurses can support caregivers and families after a diagnosis, and part 3 focuses on listening, honesty, and how nurses sustain these skills over a career.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How does a nursing program teach communication as a clinical skill?

An important thing to remember is that communication is integrated, and it's not treated as an isolated skill. Based on the courses that we have, we emphasize things such as therapeutic communication, holistic assessment, patient education, cultural awareness, and interdisciplinary collaboration. This is weaved throughout the curriculum from the very first [course] that students take throughout their entire journey here at Jersey College.

We really thrive on students developing the skill of effective communication, because we know how important it is in nursing. It requires more than just knowing what to say to the patient. We have to recognize patient needs, listen carefully to them, [and] respond to them with empathy.

When we combine communication and clinical knowledge with nursing practice, we prepare the students to approach the patient as individuals and establish that trusting relationship during very vulnerable moments.

How should nurses explain complex information when a patient is absorbing a breast cancer diagnosis?

We talk about those difficult conversations. What about someone that requires explanation of complex information? Our students have a clinical background also, so they combine this clinical knowledge with therapeutic communication in order to have these conversations with patients.

We always say that they should approach conversations with a lot of empathy, use plain language, and explain in manageable portions. I think that's really important because, again, receiving this news, many times the patient can only take small bites of information. You have to allow the patient and their family, if they're involved, to absorb, to pause, to process what it is that they're saying.

What should nurses do when they don't have all the answers?

The student also has to be knowledgeable in what they're saying, right? You're assessing the patient's level of knowledge, but are you comfortable with providing this patient and their family with the proper education and the proper responses?

We'd like the student to also clarify and acknowledge where there's uncertainty, involve an interdisciplinary approach, and call in on the oncology team and what other professionals can be involved to provide more detailed explanations: the experts that are going to treat and manage this disease. The goal is to help the patients and the family to feel informed and supported, not rushed or intimidated.

How do nursing students practice difficult conversations before they reach oncology?

Dealing with difficult conversations happens to nurses all the time. Our courses really provide a foundation for caring for patients that experience serious illnesses and communicating with individuals and families that face difficult health circumstances.

Will they encounter these patients throughout their journey here at Jersey College? It depends. It depends on clinical placement opportunities. We do not have a standalone course on oncology, although cancer-related conditions are addressed in several of the courses. We can always help facilitate understanding of cancer-related diagnoses and conditions by role-playing, by doing simulation, [and] by providing case studies that involve therapeutic communication and dealing with a client that has a difficult diagnosis such as breast cancer.

How does this approach connect to breast cancer care today?

Many nurses who care for patients with breast cancer in primary care, surgery, women's health, or emergency settings will not have had dedicated oncology coursework, which places weight on the general communication skills Molina describes.

The same whole-person framing appears in oncology practice. In October, Marieta Branis, APN, an oncology nurse practitioner at Hackensack Meridian Health John Theurer Cancer Center, told Oncology Nursing News that breast cancer teams are "treating the whole person," weighing comorbidities, finances, and family dynamics alongside the treatment plan.²

What are the key takeaways for oncology nurses?

• Treat communication as a clinical skill that is assessed and practiced, not a personality trait.
• Use plain language and deliver information in small, manageable portions after a diagnosis.
• Pause and allow patients and families time to absorb and process what they have heard.
• Acknowledge uncertainty openly and bring in the oncology team for detailed explanations.
• Use role-play, simulation, and case studies to rehearse hard conversations, especially for nurses without oncology training.

References

1. How common is breast cancer? American Cancer Society. Updated January 13, 2026. Accessed October 29, 2026. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/breast-cancer/about/how-common-is-breast-cancer.html
2. Biese A. Breast Cancer Awareness: an APN on personalized care and survivorship. Oncology Nursing News. October 12, 2026. Accessed October 29, 2026. https://www.oncnursingnews.com/view/breast-cancer-awareness-an-apn-on-personalized-care-and-survivorship