title: Communication barriers perceived by older patients and nurses.
abstract: This study investigated the communication barriers perceived by older hospitalized patients and nurses in Korea, with the aim of identifying disparities between the two parties. The authors developed a 50-item communication-barrier questionnaire that includes patient, nurse, and environmental factors. One hundred older hospitalized patients and 136 nurses were asked to rate the importance of each communication-barrier item. Nurses and patients were found to perceive the importance of barriers differently: nurses reported higher scores on patient-related communication barriers, whereas patients reported higher scores on the nurse-related barriers. There were significant differences between patients and nurses in 57%, 62%, and 71% of the nurse-, patient-, and environment-related communication barriers, respectively. Based on these findings, it is necessary for nurses to understand older patients' perceptions about communication barriers and acquire better communication skills and attitudes.
authors.affiliation: Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-kyung
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Misoon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001318:Authoritarianism; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D003144:Communication Barriers; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000592:standards; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D009013:Morale; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D012660:Semantics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload