A Study on Factors Affecting Communication Ability of Korean Nursing Students

Background/Objectives: This study was attempted to identify factors affecting the communication ability of nursing students. The study subjects were 210 nursing students.

Method/Statistical Analysis: This study was statistically processed using SPSS. 19 program and correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to confirm the relationship between the main variables.

Findings: As a result, the communication ability of nursing students showed a positive correlation with self-awareness, empathy, self-esteem. Regression analysis was found to have a significant effect on self-awareness, empathy, and self-esteem. Among them, empathy was the most influential and the explanatory power of the main variables was 53.4%. That is, the higher the empathy ability, the higher self-awareness, and the higher self-esteem of nursing college students, the higher the communication ability (F = 80.871, p<.000). That is, the higher the empathy ability, the higher self-awareness, and the higher self-esteem of nursing college students, the higher the communication ability.

Improvements/Applications: Therefore, universities should provide continuous education to improve empathy, self-esteem, and self-awareness in order to improve communication skills of student nurses, and develop specific education method and operational strategies through follow-up studies.