Communication barriers among nurses and elderly patients

Introduction: Effective communication among nurses and elderly patients plays an important role in patients’ satisfaction and compliance of physicians’ advices. The aim of this study was to determine communication barriers among nurses and elderly patinents. Methods: The population study of this croos-sectional study was nurses who were working in hospitals of Bandar Abbas. Data were collected through a self-administerated questionare that assess three aspects of communication barriers including nurse-related communication barriers, patient-related communication barriers and environment-related communication barriers. The questionnaires were distributed to 150 nurses in three hospitals. Data were analyzed using SPSS16 software. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 30.1 (SD=5.3), 27.7% males and 72.3% females. Lack of intimacy, official behavior, and working without a sincere attitude were the most important nurse-related communication barriers. Mistrust, being tired, forgetfulness and hearing problems were the most important elderly patient-related ones. In environment-related barriers, presence of severely other patients, noisy environment and being in an unpleasant environment were important. In total, nurse-related communication barriers and older patientrelated communication barriers were more important than environment-related communication barriers (P<0.03). Conclusion: It seems that most of nurse-related communication barriers could be reduced by improving communication skills and modifying their attitudes regarding elderly patients. Environmental modifications such as reducing noise levels and using hearing aids or eyeglasses, poor lighting, and uncomfortable temperatures are easy measures by hospital administrators.