Evaluation of Communication Skills Training Program for Nursing Students to Develop Supportive Ward Atmosphere During Care of Patients with Cancer

The diagnosis of cancer means a change in the lifestyle of the person in whom the cancer is found. The degree and permanency of that change is, of course, dependent on the extent of the disease, the course of treatment undertaken, and the resultant disabilities, all of which place that individual and his family under tremendous stress.

Communication is one of the most important aspects of nursing care. The emotional load in cancer nursing makes interactions between nurses and patients difficult.

Ineffective communication leaves patients feeling anxious, frustrated and dissatisfied, which may impair their ability to comply with treatments. Insufficient training in communication during nursing education also contributes to stress and burnout in nurses. So adequate training regarding communication skills should be given to the nurses during student period to avoid difficulties while communicating with patients.

To evaluate the communication skills training program for nursing students to develop supportive ward atmosphere during care of patients with cancer.

An evaluatory approach with one group pre-test post-test design was used. A dyad sample through systematic and purposive sampling technique was selected i.e., 2nd year and 3rd year BSc Nursing students from a selected college of nursing and patients with cancer from a selected hospital. Data was collected by administering a nursing student's knowledge questionnaire on basic communication skills, patient perceived supportive ward atmosphere questionnaire, and nursing student's communication skills observational checklist before and after the Communication Skills Training Program (CSTP) implementation.

The result of this study showed that there is significant difference in the mean pre-test (18.90) and post-test (19.00) knowledge scores of the nursing students regarding basic communication skills, mean pre-test (9.10) and post-test (20.90) communication skills scores of nursing students, and mean pre-test (17.43) and post-test (42.30) perceived supportive ward atmosphere level scores of patients with cancer. There was no significant relationship between pre-test knowledge and communication skills of nursing students at 0.05 level (r =0.038, P<0.05). The findings showed a statistically significant association between pre-test knowledge of nursing students on basic communication skills and selected variables such as age (p=0.001, P>0.05) and order of birth (p=0.013, P>0.05). The chi-square value showed that there was no significant association between pre-test communication skills of nursing students and selected variables such as age and order of birth.

Training the nursing students in specific communication skills during their nursing course can help them to learn and practice the skills in order to provide the quality nursing care through their effective communication with patients. Majority of nursing students were having the good theory knowledge about the communication, but they are least in effective communication skills. Communication skills training program was effective in terms of gain in knowledge, skills among nursing students, and also it was effective to provide supportive ward atmosphere perceived by patients with cancer.