Study of Communication Skills in Nursing Students and its Association with Demographic Characteristics

Introduction: Communication skills are important instruments in providing nursing care. Hence, improving communication skills of nursing students and finding their weaknesses and strengths are among the most important objectives of nursing education. The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate students' communication skills in various areas as well as the skills’ relationship with students’ demographic characteristics. Methods: In this descriptive correlation study, 330 nursing students were selected among all nursing students studying in Baqiyatallah, Army and Shahed medical universities in Tehran using cluster random sampling. Data collection tool was a researcher made questionnaire which measured five domains including verbal and nonverbal skills, internal and external coordination, respect to clients, and unconditional admission. Data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics (chi2). Results: The findings of this study showed that communication skills of 83% of students in the area of onset awareness, 91% in verbal and nonverbal skills, 88% in the area of internal and external coordination, and 97% in the area of respect to clients were at an average and desirable level but in the area of unconditional admission of patients, 55% of students showed poor communication skills. Moreover, the results for the area of onset awareness (p=0.041) and respect to the client (p=0.014) showed a significant difference between the two genders. Considering the areas of internal and external coordination (p=0.002) and respect to the clients (p=0.004), there was a significant difference between communication skills of students of first and second year compared to students of third and fourth year. Conclusion: The poorest communication skills of nursing students related to the area of patients’ unconditional admission and this weakness can impede effective communication with clients and result in unsuccessful and improper care. Therefore it is recommended include formal and informal education of this skill and other communication skills in the curriculum of nursing students.