Relationship among Communication Competence, Communication Types, and Organizational Commitment in Hospital Nurses

Abstract

Purpose: This study was done to explore the relationship in hospital nurses' of communication competence, communication types, and organizational commitment and to provide basic data for developing programs to improve internal communication and to promote nurses' commitment to their organizations. Methods: The participants included 316 nurses who worked in two general hospitals. The tools used for this study were the Global Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale (GICC) and Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire by Downs & Hazen (1981), revised by Seo (2002) and Mowday's tool (1979) for organizational commitment. Data were analyzed using SPSS/PC+12.0. Results: The mean score for communication competence was 3.46, and for organizational commitment, 3.19. For communication types, the mean score for formal communication was 3.18 and informal communication, 2.59. Communication competence had a positive relationship with formal communication (r=.32) and with informal communication (r=.16). Organizational commitment had a positive relationship with formal communication (r=.53), communication competence (r=.30), and informal communication (r=.27). Conclusion: The results indicate the necessity of developing programs to promote nurses' communication competence and also developing a system that will enrich active communication. Systematic and continuous training in communication is also highly recommended.