Iran Journal of Nursing

  Background & Aims : The process of communicating with psychiatric patients by nursing students can indicate the extent of their social interaction in the future . Since communicating with these patients is more difficult than others and is often associated with anxiety , the present study was designed to determine the effect of communication skill with psychiatric patients using Wilkinson- Shimizu method and traditional method on anxious thoughts of nursing students.

  Material & Methods: It was a quasi- experimental study with before-after design. The sample consisted of 51 undergraduate nursing students in Najafabad branch of Azad University of Isfahan who were recruited during 2011-2012 academic year by purposive sampling and then were randomly assigned into either experimental or control groups during their mental health clinical practice . The experimental group received training about Wilkinson- Shimizu method and the control group received training by traditional method. Data was collected by the Persian version of Anxious Thought Inventory (AnTI) and analyzed by SPSS-PC (v.17) using mean and standard deviation of the groups and paired t-test.

  Results: The mean score of anxious thoughts significantly decreased in experimental group (p<0/05). In control group, the mean score of anxious thoughts significantly increased (p=0/004). Before and after difference of mean scores of anxious thoughts after training with two methods was significant (P=0/005).

  Conclusion: The findings revealed that using Wilkinson- Shimizu method for communication with psychiatric patients affects anxious thoughts of nursing students. Therefore, it is recommended that managers of nursing schools pay more attention to teaching these communication skills and clinical practice about communication with psychiatric patients in nursing curriculum.

  Received: 6 Sep 2012

  Accepted: 31 Oct 2012