Barriers of nurse-patient communication from the nurse's point of view in educational hospitals affiliated to Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences

Communication with the patient is the basis for nursing practice in providing care for the patient. The aim of this study was to determine the barriers to nurse-patient communication from the viewpoint of nurses working in educational hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences,
This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 151 of nursing staff in educational hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences selected by convenience sampling method. Data gathering tool was a questionnaire including demographic characteristics and “barriers to nurse-patient communication” questionnaire with four-part: common barriers between nurses and patients, nurses’ barriers, patients’ barriers and environmental barriers. The data were analyzed by SPSS software ver 16. The demographic data and the barriers to nurse-patient communication were measured, using frequency, mean, and standard deviation.
Cultural difference between nurses and patients (2.62±1.06) was the most common barriers to the nurse-patient communication. The most important barriers related to the patient included the patient's companion’s interference (3.24±0.92). Among the environmental barriers, caring for a critical patient (3.27±0.98) was the most important barriers. The most important nurses’ barriers was lack of time (3.46±0.78).
Nurses and nursing managers should work to address and remove the barriers identified in relation to the nurse-patient communication. Providing care by native and same gender nurses, absence of patient's companion, creating a quiet environment and increasing the number of nursing staff could help to overcome these barriers