Nursing Students and Conveying Bad News to Patients

  Communication skills are the foundation of clinical capabilities in healthcare providers. The process of delivering bad news is one of the most challenging aspects of clinical communication in health care, which has subtle psychological details. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge of nursing students regarding the conveying of bad news to patients and their companions in the hospitals affiliated to Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Iran. This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2017 in order to assess the knowledge of nursing students at Bushehr University of Medical Sciences regarding the delivery of bad news to patients and their companions. Data were collected using a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 18 using descriptive and analytical statistics. The nursing students had moderate to high knowledge of delivering bad news to patients. In addition, significant associations were observed between the knowledge level, passing the courses of nursing ethics and professional communication (P=0.011), and academic year of education (P=0.037), so that the students who had passed the courses and were in inferior academic years had higher knowledge levels in this regard. However, no significant correlation was observed between the knowledge level, gender (P=0.550), and interest in the academic discipline (P=0.546). Adequate knowledge of professional ethics and effective communication is an advantage for healthcare providers. Based on the obtained results, presenting additional courses on professional ethics and communication skills in nursing education, as well as related training programs, by medical education authorities could lead to better outcomes in this regard.