Communication with patients of nurses in a general/family medicine setting

Cilj istraživanja. Istražiti i opisati načine komunikacije između medicinske sestre / tehničara i pacijenata u općoj / obiteljskoj medicini. Nacrt studije. Presječno istraživanje provedeno općoj / obiteljskoj medicini u Osijeku, Đakovu i Slavonskom Brodu od siječnja do kolovoza 2016.g. Ispitanici i metode. U ispitivanje je bilo uključeno 55 medicinskih sestara / tehničara od kojih je 51 žena i 4 muškaraca. Istraživanje je provedeno pomoću samostalno konstruiranog upitnika koji je omogućio prikupljanje općih podataka, te odgovore na 19 pitanja zatvorenog tipa. Rezultati. Većina ispitanika (78 %) smatra se dovoljno educiranim te većinom mogu posavjetovati pacijente. Značajan broj ispitanika (85 %) daje pacijentima pisane preporuke. Više od polovice ispitanika koristi Internet u radu s pacijentima, no većina samo povremeno.Većina ispitanika poznaje tehnike komunikacije ili imaju želju usvojiti ih. Najmanje upućeni su ispitanici stariji od 50 godina te nekolicina smatra da tehnike komunikacije uopće nisu bitne. Skupine s kojima ispitanici teško komuniciraju su gluhonijemi i ovisnici o drogama. Više od polovice ispitanika provodi više od 3h u izravnom razgovoru s pacijentima. Nažalost, više od 75 % ispitanika manje od 2h neformalno komunicira s pacijentima. Zaključak. U primarnoj zdravstvenoj zaštiti je prisutna pretežito uspješna komunikacija. Zdravstveni djelatnici trebaju težiti usvajanju novih tehnika komunikacije jer najveći dio vremena provedu razgovarajući s pacijentima. U komunikaciji s pacijentima određenih profila postoje poteškoće. Glavni razlog za nedovoljnu komunikaciju s pacijentima je prevše radnih obveza. U zdravstvo se uvode novi putevi komunikacije za koje zdravstveni djelatnici nisu spremni.Objectives. The study aims to determine and describe communication ways between nurses / medical technicians and patients in general / family medicine settings. Study design. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in general / family medicine settings in Osijek, Đakovo and Slavonski Brod in the period from January to August 2016. Participants and methods. The survey included 55 nurses / medical technicians, of whom 51 were women and 4 were men. The survey was conducted by using self prepared questionnaire to collect general information, and answers to 19 closed questions. Results. The majority of respondents (78 %) considered themselves to be educated enough to give patients proper advice. Significan number of respondents (85 %) gives patients written recommendations. It was determined that more than a half of respondents use the Internet sources while working with patients, however, the majority of them does that only occasionally.The most respondents are familiar or want to be familiar with communication techniques. The respondents that are the least informed about communication techniques are above 50 years of age and some of them even consider that communication techniques are not important at all. Deaf people and drug addicts are considered to be a group of people with whom respondents have problems with communication. Slightly more than a half of respondents spend more than three hours in drect conversation with patients. Unfortunately, more than 75 % respondents spend less than two hours talking with patients about informal topics.Conclusion. Good communication is mostly present in general / family medicine. Nurses / technicians should strive towards systematic training and learning about new ways of communication because they spend most of their time in direct conversation with patients. There are difficulties in communication between nurses / medical technicians and certain groups of patients. The main reason for insufficient conversation with patients refers to heavy workload. Recently, new ways of communication are being introducted in general health care system, however, the most of medical staff is not ready to face them yet