Autor(es): Grilo, Ana ; Vinagre, Graça ; Santos, Margarida Custódio dos ; Martinho, Joana Ferreira ; Gomes, Ana Isabel
Data: 2023
Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/16640
Origem: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa
Assunto(s): Assertiveness; Empathy; Patient-centeredness; Perception of communication skills; Person- and technique-oriented professions; Rehabilitation; Undergraduate health students
This study assessed attitudes toward patient-centred care, empathy, assertiveness, and subjective perception of communication skills and technical knowledge among Portuguese undergraduate students in healthcare. These students may develop rehabilitation activities with patients in their person-oriented or technique-oriented professions. Portuguese nursing and allied health students from two public higher education schools completed questionnaires in the first and third academic years: Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale, Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour, and subjective perception of technical knowledge and communication skills. A total of 183 students completed the surveys. In the first year, students showed moderate to high scores on patient-centredness attitudes, empathy, and assertiveness and perceived themselves as having good communication skills. Students from person-oriented programmes significantly improved their Total and shared patient-centred attitudes in the third year compared with students attending technique-oriented professions. Significant differences in empathy were found between groups in the third year. Distress associated with assertive behaviours increased significantly across time in students from technique-oriented programmes compared with their peers in person-oriented programmes. The results suggest that the health profession’s orientation and the programmes’ specific curriculum might have a role in how some dimensions evolved in the two groups of students. The increasing assertiveness-related discomfort highlighted the importance of assessing and monitoring students’ emotional well-being during their initial interactions with patients.
