Assessment of Interpersonal Communication Skills and Related Factors in Nursing and Midwifery Students
Namazi Asiyeh¹*, Homauonfar Hassan²

2. Msc, Education and training office of Rasht, Rasht, Iran.
*Correspondence: Poletaleshan, Islamic Azad University of Rasht Branch, Rasht.
Tel: 01333272801             Email: anamazi55@yahoo.com       

Abstract:

Background & Objectives: Communication skills have been considered as one of the basic social skills and in medicine field, too, communication is the main component of patient care. Therefore, in students of medical-related fields, the ability of establishing efficient communication with members of medical team leads to the advancement of educational and therapeutic goals and has a significant impact on their performance in patient care. The aim of this study was to investigate interpersonal communication skills in nursing and midwifery students and its related factors.
Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 347 nursing and midwifery students of Azad University of Rasht Selected randomly in 2016. Data gathering tool was a standardized questionnaire of interpersonal communication skills containing 19 items. Data analysis was done using analytical statistical tests such as Pearson correlation coefficient, t- test and chi-square and through SPSS version 22.
Results: Mean age of students was 22.59±6.38 years. Mean score of communication skills was 64.17±8.72 in midwifery students and 65.62±7.97 in nursing students. In whole, 57.3% of students had communication problems. Students’ interpersonal communication score showed no statistically significant association with variables of age, educational level and marital status. But, there was a significant correlation between the midwifery students’ grade point average and their interpersonal communication level (P= 0.03).
Conclusion: Due to the unfavorable status of interpersonal communication skills among students, planning for teaching these skills and holding practical workshops in this area should be considered as a priority.

 
Key­words: Communication Skills, Students, Midwifery, Nursing
 
Citation: Namazi A, Homauonfar H. Assessment of Interpersonal Communication Skills and Related Factors in Nursing and Midwifery Students. Journal of Health Based Research 2017; 2(4): 369-380.