Comparison of communication skills between trained and untrained students using a culturally sensitive nurse-client communication guideline in Indonesia.

BACKGROUND: A communication guideline that is sensitive to the local culture is influential in the process of nursing care. The Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline, the "Ready-Greet-Invite-Discuss," was meant (1) to strengthen the relationship between the nurse and the client despite of socio-culturally hierarchical gap between health providers and clients in Indonesian context, (2) to provide attention to the unspoken concerns especially in the context of indirect communication which mostly using non-verbal signs and politeness etiquettes, and (3) to initiate dialog in the society which hold a more community-oriented decision making.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to compare the communication skills of nursing students who had and had not received a training using a culture-sensitive Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline.

METHODS: This was a quasi experimental randomized control study to the fifth semester students of a nursing school at Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The intervention group was trained by the Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline. Both intervention and the control group had learned general nurse-client communication guidelines. The training was 4h with role-plays, supportive information and feedback sessions. An objective-structured clinical examination (OSCE) was conducted 1week after the training, in seven stations, with seven simulated clients. Observers judged the communication skills of the students using a checklist of 5-point Likert scale, whereas simulated clients judged their satisfaction using 4-point Likert scale represented in colorful ribbons.

RESULTS: There were significant mean differences in each domain of communication guideline observed between the trained and the control groups as judged by the teachers (p≤0.05) and simulated clients.

CONCLUSIONS: Training using a culture-sensitive communication skills guideline could improve the communication skills of the nursing students and may increase satisfaction of the clients.