The Communication Skills and Empathic Tendencies of Nursing and Midwifery Students to Reproductive Pattern Section of the Care Plan

The objective of this study is to determine the communication skills and empathic tendencies of nursing and midwifery students to sexuality/reproductive pattern section of the care plan. The sample of this descriptive cross-sectional study consists of 665 students studying in the midwifery and nursing department of a state university in Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey and agreeing to participate in the study as volunteers. Data of the study were collected using “Descriptive Characteristics Form for Students”, “Communication Skills Assessment Scale (CSAS)” and “Emphatic Tendency Scale”. Obtained data were assessed by using number, percent, mean and standard deviation as well as Mann–Whitney U Test, Kruskal–Wallis Test, t test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation test. The average age of students participating in the study was 20.81 ± 1.80 years, and 53.8% of them expressed that the society they lived in had a restrictive perspective on the concept of sexuality. A great majority of students think that cultural structure and religious beliefs are significant factors in the formation of sexual taboos. The study found out that 64% of the students could not ask the questions in the reproductive pattern section of the care plan, most of them did not want to be asked it themselves, and 70.5% of them were uncomfortable with asking these questions due to privacy. Approximately fifty-six percent (56.1%) of students thought that the concept of sexuality did not fall within a nurse’s responsibilities. Approximately fifty-six percent (56.1%) of them did not want to focus on the subject more during courses. Average total score of students on CSAS was 98.74 ± 13.05, average total score on the emphatic tendency scale was 67.31 ± 7.98 and a positive correlation was found between both scores. In this study, it was detected that students left the sexuality/reproductive pattern section in the care plan empty, therefore they did not/could not handle a patient’s potential problems related to sexuality/reproductive pattern.