THE DEVELOPMENT AND THE VALIDATION OF THE SELF PERCEIVED NURSE-PATIENT COMMUNICATION SKILL ASSESSMENT SCALE.

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid assessment scale to measure the self perceived nurse patient communication skills. The first phase involved the conceptualization and operationalization of communication skills based on literature review and identification of the research gap. In the second phase, questionnaires and scales were reviewed, and in consultation with experts, 60 items were framed. In the third phase, face and content validity were assessed by a panel of experts. In the final phase, data was collected (N=120) to establish reliability and validity for the self perceived nurse patient communication skills. Using the Chronbach?s alpha, test retest, split half reliability methods the internal consistency was assessed for the tool. The final 26 items had good internal consistency with Chronbach?s alpha of 0.9. Principal component analysis was used to test the psychometric properties of the instrument and four factors namely Initiating and Building the Relationship, Gathering Information, Responding and Giving Information and Closing the Conversation emerged. The analysis also revealed that the self perceived nurse patient communication skill is related to the age, level of the course, domicile and family type. It is concluded that this tool is a useful tool to assess the self perceived nurse patient communication skill among the nursing students.