Measuring communication poses a great difficulty. There are few proven and validated benchmarks for communication, despite any number of models regarding how it occurs. There are multiple aspects to any communication, such as the quality of the message and the quality of listening by the receiver. Empirical reference tools which support communication are therefore based on qualitative frameworks and indicators.
One of the challenges is which aspect of communication should be measured in order to truly represent the level of communication. For example, there are tools which measure participation in communication, even that between a human and a robot (Shi, Shiomi, Kanda, Ishiguro & Hagita, 2015). This tool uses the timing of communication and pauses as well as proportion of communication initiated from each side, but it is not really measuring the extent to which someone is communication or understanding well. There can be further complications in communication including language and culture as well as vocabulary and education.
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Communication is exceptionally important in nursing, as nurses must have excellent communication skills in their interactions with other healthcare professionals as well as patients. With few resources to test their communication skills or how well a communication has been received, nurses are disadvantaged in providing excellent care. Nurses need tools to support their communications.
The Health Communication Assessment Tool (HCAT) was developed to deal with some aspects of these problems. The HCAT is able to provide an evaluation of the extent to which a patient has understood communicated instructions (Yang & Hwang, 2016). This provides a real, empirical reference tool which can be used by nurses and nursing students in simulations in order to improve their skills (Yang & Hwang, 2016). It also provides a basis for developing new tools for use in different language and cultural contexts (Yang & Hwang, 2016).
- Shi, C., Shiomi, M., Kanda, T., Ishiguro, H., & Hagita, N. (2015). Measuring Communication Participation to Initiate Conversation in Human’Robot Interaction.’International Journal of Social Robotics,’7(5), 889-910.
- Yang, H. M., & Hwang, S. Y. (2016). Reliability and Validity of the Assessment Tool for Measuring Communication Skills in Nursing Simulation Education.’Korean Journal of Adult Nursing,’28(1), 95-105.
