Factors Affecting Student-patient Relationship: The Nursing Students` Viewpoints in Birjand University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: The relationship is a key concept in nursing and an integral part of patient care. Nursing students are one of the most influential individuals who directly communicate with patients for a long period of time, therefore proper relationship with patients is considered one of their important duties and a necessity for effective training and learning clinical cares. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting student-patient relationship from the viewpoints of nursing students. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 2013. Ninety-one nursing students of Birjand university of Medical Sciences were selected through convenient sampling. Data were gathered through a researcher-made questionnaire consisted of six categories including: personal, social, professional, environmental, educational and clinical conditions of patients. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive and analytical statistics (independent t-tests, ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis). Results: The results showed that professional (4.02±0.71) and personal factors (3.45±0.46) were the most and the least important factors from the students’ perspective, respectively. A demographic comparison revealed a significant difference between the viewpoints of male and female students in terms of clinical (t=2.9, p=0.001) and social (t=-2.32, p=0.02) factors. Conclusion: The Results indicated that professional factors had the greatest effect on student-patient relationship. Thus health providers and educational managers should focus their efforts on modifying professional factors in order to improve student-patient relationship and thereby improve the quality of clinical education.