Effective Communication Practices in Nursing and Challenges: The Perspective of Student Nurses in Anambra State

Abstract

Effective communication is evident when the sender conveys a message that the receiver readily receives and understands. The study examined the effective communication practices and challenges among nurses as perceived by student nurses in Anambra state. The population was 425 students from two randomly selected schools of nursing and one Department of nursing science in Anambra State. Yaro Yamane’s formula was applied to draw a sample size of 206 respondents. Using validated structured questionnaire data were collectedand presented in charts and tables with frequency and simple percentages. The descriptive statistics was employed in the data analysis while Chi square was applied in testing the two null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significant. Findings from the study revealed that the student nurses in Anambra state have positive perception towards effective communication practices in nursing with an average mean score of 3.3. The Majority of the students 99.5% saw effective communication to mean a two-way process through which the sender conveys a message that the receiver readily receives and understands. 96.1% saw it as feedback, documentation, report writing and handover. 97.5% were of the opinion that manner of approach to client is an aspect of effective communication. 97.1% saw it to embraces patient education, informed consent and involving client in his care. (94.6%) believed that asking open ended questions (95.2%), and attention to non-verbal communication (99%); were the best approaches to effective communication in nursing practice. 80.6% were of the opinion that time, conflict among health workers (91.2%), language barrier (90.8%), heavy workload (69.9%) constitutes the cogs in the wheel of effective communication in nursing practice. Gender (p > 0.692) and training institution (p cal = 0.106) had no significant influence on their perception. The study recommends that lectures on communication skills be given to the students in both native and English languages.