https://www.heighpubs.org/hjncp 012 https://doi.org/10.29328/journal.cjncp.1001023
Abstract
Background: Communication is the process of exchanging information or messages from
one group to the other through mutually understood verbal or non-verbal ways. Communication
barrier is anything that prevents receiving and understanding the messages. poor communication
between patients and the nurses’ result in an increased length of stay, wastage of the resource,
patient dissatisfaction, absence of confidence, and frustration for both the nurses and the patients.
This study will provide basic information on the level of nurses to patients’ communication and
perceived barriers in government hospitals of Bahir Dar city.
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the level of the nurse to patient
communication and perceived barriers in government hospital of Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia, 2020.
Methods: Institution based cross-sectional mixed-methods study was conducted from
February 24 – March 9/2020 in government hospitals of Bahir Dar city. A total of 380 nurses were
included in the quantitative study by using simple random sampling. For both the quantitative
and qualitative study, at the initial stage of data collection and interview; informed consent was
obtained from respondents. Data were entered into Epi Data 4.6 and analyzed with a statistical
package of social science version 25. Data were mainly analyzed using descriptive statistics and
binary logistic regression. For the qualitative study, purposive sampling technique was employed,
and 7 participants were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used.
Results: From the total participants 36.5% of nurses were found to have poor communication.
Variables which have statistically significant associations with the level of communication were
educational level, work experience, the unwillingness of nurses, and lack of communication
skill. The highest perceived communication barriers were lack of continuous training with 82.7%
followed by workload with 80.7% and lack of medical facilities with 79.2% as reported by nurses. All
environmental-related barriers were the perceived barriers of the nurse to patient communication.
Conclusion: In this study, the communication of nurses to patients is found to low. To enhance
communication with the patients; nurses and other stakeholders like the ministry of health, the
health bureau, and hospital authorities need to recognize the communication barriers. Giving
awareness on the communication barrier for the nurses helps to minimize the barriers and improve
the nurses to patients’ communication.
Research Article
Level of Nurses to Patients
Communication and Perceived
Barriers in Government Hospitals of
Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia, 2020
Moges Wubneh
1
*, Solomon Emishaw
2
and Worku Animaw
2
1
Lecturer, Debre Tabor University, Ethiopia
2
Assistant Professor, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
More Information
*Address for Correspondence: Moges Wubneh,
Lecturer, Debre Tabor University, Ethiopia,
Email: wmoges7@gmail.com
Submitted: 11 June 2020
Approved: 25 June 2020
Published: 26 June 2020
How to cite this article: Wubneh M, Emishaw S.
Animaw W. Level of Nurses to Patients
Communication and Perceived Barriers in
Government Hospitals of Bahir Dar City,
Ethiopia, 2020. Clin J Nurs Care Pract. 2020; 4:
012-026.
DOI: 10.29328/journal.cjncp.1001023
Copyright: © 2020 Wubneh M, et al. This
is an open access article distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Communication; Barrier; Nurse-
patient; Bahir Dar; Ethiopia; 2020
OPEN ACCESS
Introduction
Background
Communication is the transfer of information by
exchanging verbal and non-verbal messages. It is a core
skill for all healthcare professionals and nursing staff in
particular since nurses spend more time with patients and
relatives than any other healthcare professional. When
nurses communicate effectively with interest, listen actively,
and demonstrate compassion, patients may be more likely to
report their experiences as positive, even at times of distress
and ill health [1].
Good communication between nurses and patients is
essential for better care. They should also devote time to the
patient to communicate with the necessary conϐidentiality,