The Effect of Communication Skills Training for Medical Personnel on Patients’ Satisfaction

Abstract

Effective communication skills of hospital personnel can lead to increased quality of healthcare services. Communication skills are defined as the most important feature of healthcare providers. Given the importance of communication in medical settings, the present study was conducted to examine the effects of communication skills training for treatment personnel on patients’ satisfaction. The present quasi-experimental study was conducted on 508 employees and patients in Hamadan Fatemieh Hospital, 2016. Each group of participants was divided into two groups of experimental and controls. The required data were collected through a questionnaire covering demographic characteristics, the Communication Skills Inventory and the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. The CSI and the PSQ were completed twice. Hospital personnel in the experimental group received 4 sessions of communication skills training. Using the SPSS-21 software, the collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and parametric and nonparametric statistical tests. According to the results, the average age of medical employees in the experimental group was 31.89±6.96 years and in the control group were 28.81±5.19 years. Medical personnel in the control group received lower scores in all aspects of communication skills before and after the intervention. Before the intervention, there were significant differences between the two groups in terms of age, work experience, job category, feedback and overall communication skills (p<0.05). Using Analysis of Covariance and adjustment of age, work experience and job category, no significant difference was observed in communication skills domains of feedback and overall communication skills between the two groups after the intervention. After the intervention, patients in the experimental group were more satisfied with the performance of treatment personnel than patients in the control group. Due to the lack of communication skills, many of hospital personnel cannot communicate effectively with patients and colleagues. Accordingly, providing these employees with communication skills workshops and in-service training programs can be helpful.