Evaluation of the patient’s perception on the communication behavior of the nursing personnel: design and validation in the Mexican population

Abstract

Background. Nurse-patient communication has been established as a key component of professional healthcare. The present study examined the patients’ perception of the verbal and non-verbal communication skills of nurses. Although the Caring Assessment Tool (CAT) stands among the instruments available to evaluate these communication skills, cultural and schooling characteristics limit its direct applicability to the Mexican context.

Objective. The aim of this study was to design and validate an instrument on the patient-recorded Nurse Communication Behavior (CECOP, for its acronym in Spanish) based on the Mexican patient’s experience.

Method. Based on exploratory interviews with 29 patients, a first draft of the CECOP was designed. The instrument was validated by independent expert judges and after the elimination of two items it was used with 150 patients. The validity was assessed by a factor analysis extraction through Principal Component Analysis and Varimax Rotation. Convergence validity was established between the CAT and the CECOP and between the CECOP and numeric scales that evaluate empathy and patient satisfaction.

Results. Construct Validity reduced the CECOP to 10 items in two factors (empathy and respect) with statistically significant KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) and Bartlett’s Test (p≤.001). The explained variation was 54.58%. The correlation between the CECOP score (10 items) and the CAT was .459. Between the CECOP and the empathy scale and between the CECOP and the satisfaction scale the correlations were .419 and .495, respectively. All correlations were statistically significant (p≤.001).

Discussion and conclusion. The CECOP can be used to evaluate professional care in its human dimension from the patient’s perspective and to suggest improvements in the nurses communication.