Abstract
Background and aims: Effective nurse-patient communication is essential for providing quality care and increasing patient satisfaction. Poor communication can lead to patient dissatisfaction and reduced quality of services. This study aimed to identify the barriers to effective nurse-patient communication from the perspective of nurses in teaching hospitals in Zanjan, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 195 nurses from various wards in teaching hospitals in the city of Zanjan in 2025. Participants were selected using stratified random sampling method. The data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire, and "Barriers to Effective Nurse-Patient Communication" questionnaire. This tool designed by Baraz Pordanjani et al. in 2008 and it’s validity and reliability have been confirmed in previous studies. Data were analyzed through SPSS-26 using descriptive and inferential statistics and independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney U test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient, with a significance level set at 0.05. Results: The most important barriers to effective nurse–patient communication included the difficulty of nursing work (92.9%), high workload (92.3%), low salary (90.8%), lack of welfare facilities (88.8%), physical and mental fatigue (87.2%), lack of appreciation from officials (83.6%), and patient’ excessive expectations (80.5%). Job factors had the greatest impact (35.69 ± 5.22), and nurses’ demographic and occupational characteristics had no significant relationship with communication barriers (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The findings showed that communication barriers were mainly related to job conditions, including work difficulty, low salary, and nurses fatigue.