The Influence of Teaching Program of Stress Management and Communication Skills on Improvement of Mental Health of Nurses and Hospital Staff: An Experimental Study

The occupational nature of health profession is such that employees in these occupations are exposed to various stressors which threaten their mental health. We aimed to investigate the influence of stress management and communication skills training on the improvement of mental health of nurses and hospital staff. It was a quasi-experimental study. The sample included 32 nurses and other hospital staff of Baqiyatallah hospital in Tehran that were first recruited by voluntary sampling and then were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Stress management and communication skills training program based on the cognitive-behavioral theory was performed during a 16 hours period. Data was collected by Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) before and after the intervention and was analyzed by descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance using SPSS-PC (v. 18). The results of the analysis of covariance indicated that the intervention has significantly reduced stress and anxiety in the experimental group compared to the control group (P< 0/01). However، no significant difference was seen in terms of depression (P=0/861). By reducing symptoms of stress and anxiety، stress management and communication skills training based on cognitive-behavior theory can improve mental health of nurses and hospital staff. Accordingly، using this program by health managers to improve mental health of their staff is recommended.