Patient-Driven Care: Teaching Motivational Interviewing to Nurse Practitioner Students

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

The Journal for Nurse Practitioners

Abstract

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based counseling approach that helps patients resolve ambivalence and make lifestyle changes. The 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) “Essentials” emphasize MI training for nurse practitioners (NP). This study evaluated whether adding an MI educational module to an advanced health promotion course would increase the likelihood of NP students’ use of MI in practice. Using a pre-post paired survey with 244 NP students across 13 sections, results analyzed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test demonstrated statistically significant improvements. Further research is recommended to explore MI training throughout NP education.

Research Highlights

  • Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based counseling method used to promote behavior change.
  • MI improves chronic illness outcomes by supporting lifestyle and behavior change.
  • The 2025 American Association of Colleges of Nursing “Essentials” now emphasize teaching MI to nurse practitioner students.
  • Including MI in nurse practitioner curricula boosts communication and patient engagement skills.
  • Using MI shifts patient-centered care toward authentically patient-driven care.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2025.105674

Publication Date

2-2026

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