Communication competence and the intensity of anxiety and stress in medical staff – a preliminary report

Abstract

Aim of the studyCommunication competencies are crucial in healthcare. Medical staff is exposed to increased emotional stress. It is still unclear, whether the level of communication competencies correlates with stress associated with professional work in healthcare providers. The aim of this study was to determine this relationship and investigate the models of coping with stress among different professional groups in the hospital wards.Subject or material and methodsMethods: The study involved interviewing medical personnel (N=93, 69 female, doctors, nurses, psychologists) to collect the psychological parameters including stress, anxiety, coping strategies and communication skills.ResultsResults: Nurses use less often task oriented coping with stress than doctors, while psychologists have higher level of avoidance-oriented style than doctors and nurses. Important associations between readiness for cooperation and the stress levels in doctors (positive) and psychologists (negative) were detected.DiscussionThe level of communication barriers correlated strongly negatively with the level of stress in psychologists. There are important relationships between cooperation and stress levels, individual communication style and anxiety levels.ConclusionsHealthcare professionals use various coping strategies when exposed to stressful situations which depend partly on their profession. The coping strategies used correlate with the communication strategies. Moreover, the level of anxiety is associated with communication competence.