Examining the relationship between nurses' communication skills and their perception of bad news and their experience of giving bad news

Objectıve: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between nurses' communication skills and their perception of bad news and experiences of giving bad news. Method: This descriptive and relationship-seeking study was conducted at Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Education and Research Hospital. A total of 341 nurses were approached to participate in the study, and it was conducted with 241 nurses who met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected between April 2022 and September 2022 using face-to-face interviews with the Socio-demographic Data Form, Questionnaire to Determine Nurses' Perception of Bad News and Experience in Delivering Bad News, and Health Care Workers' Communication Skills Scale (HCCS). Data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 software, Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, Pearson Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test, Point-Two Serial Correlation, Benferroni and One-way ANOVA tests. A significance level of 95% (or α=0.05 error rate) was used to determine differences in the analyses. Result: It was found that 83.8% of the nurses were female, 25.3% were between the ages of 20 and 25, 77.2% had a bachelor's degree, and 45.2% had a working experience of 10 years or more. It was found that there was no significant difference (p>0.050) between the definition of bad news, the challenging situations encountered in the care process and the ways of managing it, and the mean scores of the communication skill scale. A weak, positive and statistically significant relationship was found between nurses' need for support and the social skills sub-dimension of the Communication Skills Scale for Healthcare Professionals. (p<0.05) Conclusion: The results of the study reveal that nurses' need for support in the process of giving bad news is related to the development of their social skills and that it is important for them to develop their social skills so that they can manage the process more effectively. In this context, it is recommended that this subject be included in the training curriculum so that nurses can communicate better during the process of giving bad news, that nurses' information needs are met through in-service training programs, and that units are established where they can receive support in the process. Key words: nurse, communication skills, bad news, perception of bad news, experience of giving bad news