Investigating Employee's and Health Care Practitioner's Communication Skills

Objectives Communication skill is one of the basic skills of human social life that have a profound impact on the success of individuals, organizations, and institutions. This study is conducted to determine the status of communication skills and related factors in staff and health workers of burn and psychiatric hospital in Sari city.
Methods This descriptive-analytical study has been done with a sample size of 409 people, comprising staff and health workers of a burn and psychiatric hospital in Sari city in 2015. In this study, the samples were selected using the census method. Instruments used for the study were demographic data and communication skills questionnaire consisting of skills of understanding message, listening skills, insight to the communication process and certainty in communication that was completed in an interview with hospital staff. Collected data were analyzed with SPSS software version 18 using Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA, and t-test.
Results Findings of the present study indicate that the mean of communication skills of staff is 154, which is at a desirable level. In this study, it is shown that there is a significant difference in the mean score of communication skills according to work experience variables, education, work location, employment status, and position (PConclusion Based on the findings of the current study, it is recommended that the education level and communication skills of the staff and health workers in hospitals should be increased. To increase these skills, it is necessary to conduct service training. It is also important to provide job security to health workers and staff by reviewing job rules and employment status using rewards and timely encouragements and determining service place of staff regarding their interests and expertise. This can result in significant improvements in communication skills, thereby, raising the satisfaction of staff and clients.