Examining nursing students' communication skills development: A descriptive study

Background: Teaching communication in the nursing curricula is significant, both
nursing students and educators value the communication skills competencies for quality of
nursing care given to patients and clients. Moreover, nursing care expressed through
interpersonal relationship should include all kinds of communication. Therefore, there is a
need to evaluate the development of communication skills among nursing students. Objective:
This study aims to examine the development of communication skills among nursing
students. Setting: This study was carried out in Nursing Education Department at the Faculty
of Nursing, Alexandria University Subjects: The subjects of this study comprised all nursing
students enrolled in health education course in the first semester of the academic year 2019-
2020. Tools: one tool was used by researchers; Development of Communication Skills
Assessment Scale (CSAS). Results: It was found that development of communication skills
related to the following aspects: role of nursing faculty members, students’ personal
characteristics, theoretical knowledge about communication in health and nursing, individual
characteristics of patients and the health-disease process, finally the profile of health team. It
can be concluded that development of communication skills in nursing students depends
heavily on several factors, some related to the role of nursing faculty members, while others,
related to
students’ personal characteristics, or individual characteristics of patients, and
finally the profile of health teams, respectively. Recommendations: Educational workshops
should be
conducted to all nurse educators about communication skills development and
interpersonal sciences. Also, teaching communication science as a mandatory course for all
newly admitted nursing students.