The effect of effective communication skills of pediatric nurses on the child's adaptation to the hospital and parental anxiety

Aim: A descriptive and correlational study was conducted to examine the effect of effective communication skills of pediatric nurses on the child's adaptation to the hospital and parental anxiety. Method: The study was conducted in July-August 2024 with 115 pediatric nurses working in the A Block Children's Hospital of Istanbul Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital and 115 parents of children aged 1-3. Data collection included the Information Form, Effective Communication Skills Scale (ECSS), State Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Children's Hospital Adaptation Assessment Scale (CHILD-HAAS). Data were collected via face-to-face interviews. Results: It was determined that pediatric nurses were mostly female, married, and had a bachelor's degree, had chosen their profession willingly and had no difficulty communicating with children, while parents were mostly female, high school graduates, had male children, and had not been hospitalized before. It was found that the total scale mean score of pediatric nurses was 132.37±12.38 points on the ECSS, 23.34±3.36 points on the Ego-Enhancing Language, 33.10±4.44 points on Active Listening, 18.56±3.10 points on Self-Knowledge-Self-Disclosure and 26.49±3.30 points on Empathy from the sub-dimensions. It was seen that the parents scored 44.84±9.68 on the SAS and the mean score on the CHILD-HAAS was 58.09±17.81 points according to the parents' evaluation. It was seen that there was a significant difference between the variables of gender, willingness to choose the profession, working hours and the ECSS, and between the gender of the child and the SAS and CHILD-HAAS (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was observed that the effective communication skills of pediatric nurses, the child's adaptation to the hospital, and the parental anxiety were at a moderate level, and there was no relationship between communication skills, the anxiety of the parents, and the children's adaptation to the hospital.