Factors Affecting the Communication Competence in Iranian Nursing Students: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: Communication competence in nursing students is one of the nursing education requirements, especially during the internship period, the final stage of the bachelor nursing education in Iran. Several factors can influence this competence and identifying them could help provide safe care by nursing students in the future. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate factors that influence nursing students' communication competence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A purposeful sampling technique was used to select 18 nursing students who had completed their internship. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analyzed by the conventional qualitative content analysis method. RESULTS: After data analysis, three main categories were achieved: organizational factors, humanistic factors and socio-cultural factors. The main and latent theme that affected the students' communication competence was not being accepted as a caregiver in the clinical environment. CONCLUSIONS: With regards to students not being accepted in health care environments, it is recommended to plan special programs for empowering students to acquire better social state and acceptance by the health care team.