| Resumo: | Introduction: In Intensive Care Units (ICUs), nurses face significant challenges in communication, especially with patients who cannot express themselves verbally. Although the importance of communication in these contexts is well recognized, there is a gap in assessing nurses' communication competencies. Objective: To develop and validate a scale to assess nurses' communication competencies with critically ill patients and their families, and to characterize these competencies among ICU nurses. Methods: This is a descriptive and analytical study involving 139 ICU nurses nationwide, using an online questionnaire disseminated by the Order of Nurses. The scale constructed for the study included 22 items on a Likert scale from 0 to 4, and was validated through Principal Component Factor Analysis (PCA) and Cronbach's Alpha (α ≥ 0.70). Results: The scale proved to be valid and reliable, identifying four main components: "Patient-Centered Communication" (α = 0.820), "Nonverbal Communication" (α = 0.847), "Empathic Communication and Emotional Support" (α = 0.799), and "Communication Effectiveness" (α = 0.842). 69.1% of nurses achieved a high level of communication competency; those with higher qualifications and interest in the field scored higher on all dimensions. Conclusion: The majority of ICU nurses demonstrate adequate communication competencies. However, there is a notable need to improve nonverbal communication. The validated scale serves as a useful tool for future studies and improvements in healthcare communication practices. |
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