The Effect of Training on Communication Skills of Nurses with Child through Small Groups Discussion

Abstract

Background: Communication is the key role in the nursing profession. Nurse-patient communication is highly important especially when the patient is a child. Studies indicate inappropriate contact with children in the pediatric wards. This study investigated effect of training on communication skills of nurse with child through small group discussion. Methods: This study is a clinical trial with pre-test and post-test, which was done on 60, nurses in Dr. Sheikh hospital in Mashhad. Nurses were randomly assigned into either intervention or control groups.Nurses' communication skills were measured using the tools of Calgary Cambridge communication skills assessment before and after the intervention. During one-day workshops, 6-hour training for communication skills with children was provided to nurses as small group discussion. Results: The results showed there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of mean score of nurses' verbal and nonverbal communication skills before the intervention (verbal: p = 0.495, nonverbal: p = 0.307). However, after the intervention, the mean score of nurses in verbal and nonverbal communication skills in the case group was statistically significant and higher than those in the control group (p<0.001). Conclusions: Given weakness in the relationship between nurse and child at the bedside and since nurses do not receive essential instructions on specific skills related to children communication, it seems necessary to investigate the effect of implementing various educational practices on the nurses' communication skills.