Nurses’ communication skills and determinant factors in Amhara Region Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019

Abstract Background Nurses are critical in the delivery of essential health services and are core in strengthening the health system. Therefore, the aim of this article was to assess the prevalence of the nurses’ communication skills and determinant factors in Amhara Region Referral Hospitals, Ethiopia, 2019. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 18 to April 16, 2019 in Amhara Region Referral Hospitals. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 678participants. Data were collected using pretested and self-administered questionnaires. The collected data were entered into Epi Info version 7.1.2.0 and exported to SPSS version 25.0 for analysis. Primarily, bivariate analysis was used and variables with p-values ≤ 0.2 were further examined using a multivariable logistic regression model to control for confounders. Then, variables with p-values less than 0.05 with 95% CIs were used to determine associated factors. Results Out of 678 study participants, 403 (61.4%) of them had effective communication skills with 96.76% of the response rate. Less than 5 years of working experience [AOR=2.77; 95% CI: (1.28, 5.99)], workload [AOR=1.52; 95% CI: (1.09, 2.12)], and poor evidence-based utilization [AOR=2.00; 95% CI: (1.40, 2.85)] were associated with the nurse’s ineffective communication skill to patients. Conclusions More than half (61.4%) of the participants had effective communication skills. Year of working experience, workload, and poor evidence-based utilization were the main contributing factors of communication skills.