Comparison of Operating Room Nurses and General Ward Nurses on Communicative Competence and Interpersonal Relationship Ability within the Medical Team

Purpose:Thepurposewastocompareoperatingroom(OR) nursesandgeneral wardnursesontheir communication competenceandinterpersonal relationship ability within the medical team. Methods:Participants were276nurses (OR 122, ward 154) working in one of 4 university hospitals located in I and K areas. Data were collected using a questionnaire and data collection was done in June, 2013. Comparisons between OR nurses and general ward nursesoncommunication competenceandinterpersonal relationshipabilitywereanalyzedusingANCOVA. Results: There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in communication competence (F=11.96, p=.001) with average score for OR nurses at 3.37 points and ward nurses at 3.53 points. There were statistically significant differences betweenthetwo groups in interpersonalrelationship ability (F=15.51, p<.001) with the aver- age score for OR nurses at 3.30 points and ward nurses at 3.50 points. Conclusion:The results indicate a need to develop avariety of programs to promote communicationcompetenceinOR nurses and to enhancethe openness of interpersonal relationship ability in human resource management.