Factors Relating to Communication Skills of Nurses and Evaluation of a 60 hour Course on Health Communication

Abstract

Communication skills are of paramount importance for health care professionals working with patients. (Lau,2013). Communication is an integral part of nursing education. It is also has been recognized as an important element of nursing and nursing training, with many arguing that effective communication is fundamental to quality nursing practice (Mullan, 2010). According to Darban (2016) teaching communication skills has become a part of nurse training programs in advanced countries in the recent years whereas, it is neglected in nursing curriculum in developing countries which lowers communication skills of nurses below the ideal level.Objectives newline1. To assess the attitude of nursing students and practice of communications skills related to nursing care. newline2. To determine factors responsible for ineffective communication skills of the nurse in the patient care setting. newline3. To assess the attitudes and opinions of other health team members in the health care team on improving the health care communication skills of nurses newline4. To formulate and validate possible methods of training nursing students in enhancing their health communication skills. newlineOutcome of the Study newlineTo make recommendations to higher authorities to modify the existing curriculum for Bachelor of Science in nursing program newlineDesign and Methods: A mixed method qualitative and quantitative approach was used. Attitude survey was administered to capture the opinion of the doctors and nurses on the importance of HCS training for nursing students, survey was done among nursing students to assess their attitude on HCS followed by an observational study to observe their application of communication skills in clinical practice. Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted among consultants and senior nurse managers, faculty, and nursing students to capture the factors influencing ineffective communication and an in-depth interview was conducted to receive expertise guidance to develop a curriculum for a short-term course on HCS.