Nurses’ self-assessment on their perceived communication with patients as a result of a specific training

Abstract

Introduction: Nurses’ interpersonal relations with their patients are based on communication; the introduction of training programs on communication skills can encourage nurses to improve their quality of care.

Objective: To compare a group of nurses’ self-assessment on their communication with patients before and after having taken a social skills training program.

Methods: The study design was descriptive and comparative. The ACEP (Self-assessment on the nurses’ form of communication with their patients) was given to 14 nurses from a third level public institution, before and then after these nurses took a specific training on communication skills. The ACEP assesses verbal and non-verbal behaviors related to empathy (8 items) and respect (2 items). The scale goes from 1 to 5, and the higher the score, the better the communication skills. Data were analyzed through these statistical tests: Wilcoxon to compare scores pre and post training, student’s t, and Fisher to compare groups by age, work history, and educational level.

Results: The pre training global scores went from 33 to 45 while the post training ones went from to 41 to 50 (p=.004). A difference was observed between the pre and post training behavior assessment in the items “the nurse used words of encouragement to motivate patients” (p=.016), and “the nurse embraced the patients to motivate them” (p=.014). There were no differences among groups by age, work history, or educational level.

Conclusions: The ACEP scores were higher after the communication skills training program, however not all specific changes were statistically significant.