The Performance of the Health Communication Assessment Tool© (HCAT-f) in Calibrating Different Levels of Nurse Communication Skills in a French-Speaking Context

Evidence and Clinical Implications

Authors

  • Anh Nguyet Diep Public Health Sciences Department, University of Liège, Belgium; Department of Information Technology, Can Tho University, Vietnam https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5134-3220
  • Jean-Christophe Servotte Paramedical Department, Namur-Liège-Luxembourg University College, Belgium https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5153-3822
  • Nadia Dardenne Public Health Sciences Department, University of Liège, Belgium
  • Sophie Vanbelle School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, the Netherlands
  • Vanessa Wauthier Centre Hospitalier Régional de Namur, Belgium
  • Méryl Paquay Medical Simulation Center of Liege, University of Liège, Belgium https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3979-558X
  • Suzanne Hetzel Campbell Department of Applied Science, School of Nursing, The University of British Columbia, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8134-0669
  • Jonathan Goffoy Medical Simulation Center of Liege, University of Liège, Belgium https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0620-6782
  • Anne-Françoise Donneau Public Health Sciences Department, University of Liège, Belgium
  • Alexandre Ghuysen Public Health Sciences Department, University of Liège, Belgium; Medical Simulation Center of Liege, University of Liège, Belgium

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47368/ejhc.2022.308

Keywords:

healthcare, communication skills, cognitive fluency, scale validation

Abstract

Communication skills training is essential in nurse education. Miscommunication may lead to adverse events and unsafe healthcare. To date, valid and reliable instruments to serve both communication training and assessment purposes across different cultural contexts are scarce. The present study empirically tested a French-language version of the Health Communication Assessment Tool© (HCAT-f) across different levels of communication skills performance to establish its reliability and validity through a cognitive fluency framework. Ten experts in communication and 52 nurse educators rated three videos simulating conversations between a nurse and a patient scheduled for lumpectomy. Each video captured a different level of communication skills performed by the nurse: High, medium, and low. Three distinct constructs were identified, i.e., professional presentation, empathy, and trust building. At absolute single-measure, an ICC = .43 suggested adequate interrater reliability of the whole scale for the medium-performed scenario, which decreased in low-performed (ICC = .35) and high-performed (ICC = .18) scenarios. The HCAT-f fulfils the criteria of linguistic equivalence, contextual relevance, and demonstrates acceptable construct validity. It can be used as a summative assessment tool after prior training on scale calibration is in place because interrater agreement was difficult to be established in high and low performance scenarios.

 

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Published

07.12.2022

How to Cite

Diep, A. N., Servotte, J.-C., Dardenne, N., Vanbelle, S., Wauthier, V., Paquay, M., Campbell, S. H., Goffoy, J., Donneau, A.-F., & Ghuysen, A. (2022). The Performance of the Health Communication Assessment Tool© (HCAT-f) in Calibrating Different Levels of Nurse Communication Skills in a French-Speaking Context: Evidence and Clinical Implications. European Journal of Health Communication, 3(3), 164–179. https://doi.org/10.47368/ejhc.2022.308

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Section

Original Research Paper