A Study to Assess the Relationship between Perceived Quality of Therapeutic Communication and Nursing Care Satisfaction among Patients

Patient satisfaction is an important component of health care industry in competitive business environment. It leads to drift in both new and old patients, which hinder the sustainability of any hospital in long run. Nursing care satisfaction is an important dimension of the overall patient satisfaction. Effective communication by nurses’ i.e. Therapeutic Communication with the patients may play an important role in Nursing Care Satisfaction. The present paper aims to assess the relationship between perceived quality of Therapeutic Communication and Nursing Care Satisfaction among patients. For study purpose, a sample of fifty patients admitted in ICU, private ward and general ward of a multispecialty hospital in Mohali was taken by using judgmental sampling. Perceived quality of Therapeutic Communication and Nursing Care Satisfaction among Patients were measured on Five point Likert scale by using two different validated tools for each. Study found that perceived quality of Therapeutic Communication and Nursing Care Satisfaction among patients were moderately correlated (r=0.5, p-value=0.00). It was further found that components of Therapeutic Communication such as ability of nurses to make the patient comfortable and give reassurance(r=0.6, p-value=0.000), adjustment of their schedule in meeting patients needs (r=0.4, p-value=.006), nurses’ response to calls by patients(r=.4, p-value=.008), instruction given during discharge (r=.4, p-value=.002) and flexibility of nurses in meeting patients’ needs (r=.44, p-value=.001) were correlated with the Nursing Care Satisfaction. In the end, study suggested that management of hospitals should inculcate the good communication skills among nurses by organizing workshops, training courses etc. to improve the nursing care satisfaction among patients.