I. Research Analysis
Directions: Conduct a research analysis on the research article provided. On the first column are the areas of analysis with
guide questions to help you through. Your analysis (answers) should be written on the second column.
Areas of Analysis
1. Title, Proponent and Source
 What is the title of the article?
 Who is the proponent?
 In what journal can the article be found? (Cite the
journal, its volume and date of publication)
2. Background
 What issue or problem did the study seek to
address?
 What prompted the researcher to conduct the
study?
3. Theoretical Framework
 On what theory or model was the study anchored?
(If study does not have a theory, you may cite
concepts from the literature review which support
the study. Do not forget to cite the author(s) of
such concepts.
4. Questions/Objectives/Aims
 What particular questions/objectives/aims did the
study seek to answer/address?
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Your Analysis
Communication in Nurse-Patient Interaction in
Healthcare Settings in Sub-Saharan Africa: A
Scoping Review
Abukari Kwame, Pammla M. Petrucka
International Journal of Africa Nursing Science,
Volume 12, 2020, 100198
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2020.100198
Inadequate communication among nurses and
inconsistency in the patient-nurse relationship.
The researcher conducted this study due to a poor
communication that can have a negative impact on
the quality of care, nursing practices, and safety.
According to the Arksey and O'Malley (2005)
framework (henceforth A&O Framework) for
scoping
studies
and
the
additional
recommendations by Levac et al. (2010),
identifying relevant studies for a scoping study
comes under stage two of the framework. To
identify relevant studies for our review, a
comprehensive search strategy was developed
and used to identify and scope studies both
published and unpublished that examined
communication in nurse-patient interaction
within the sub-Saharan African context. The
search process was guided by both our research
questions (stage one requirements of A&O’s
framework) and the purpose of the study. To
ensure that all relevant studies were accessed,
a professional librarian assisted in the search
process. Databases including CINAHL,
MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, and ProQuest
were searched for studies conducted between
January 2000 and July 2019 and published in
English. Limiting the literature to only those
published from 2000 upwards and in English
was necessitated by time and cost constraints.
Also, given the emergence of the concepts of
patient-centered care and communication
(PCC) in the late 1990s and early 2000s (IOM,
2001), the need to capture nurse-patient
interaction and communication studies since
2000 was relevant, as we can indirectly see how
PCC was promoted.
The purpose of this review was to investigate
communication strategies in nurse-patient interactions and
how they influence patient participation in the care process
in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to identify major findings
and gaps in the literature. Two questions are investigated in
this review:

What is the current state of the evidence on
communication
strategies
in
nurse-patient
interactions in the sub-Saharan African healthcare
context?

5. Methodology
a. Method (What research method was specifically
employed in the study?)
b. Setting (Where was the study conducted?)
c. Participants (Who were involved and how were
they selected?)
d. Instruments (What was used to obtain the data?)
e. Data Gathering Procedure (What were the steps in
collecting the data?)
What are the findings and gaps in the
literature/evidence on communication strategies in
nurse-patient interactions in healthcare settings in
the sub-Saharan African context?
a. Interviews, focus groups, and participant observations
were common data collection methods.
b. South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Malawi, Tanzania,
Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Botswana,
and Rwanda were among the countries where primary
studies were conducted. Half of the included studies were
conducted in two countries, South Africa and Ghana, with
the remaining countries each having one to three studies.
The included studies covered five major healthcare areas,
though some studies covered two or more (HIV/AIDS care
setting, Maternal/Antenatal care setting, ICU setting,
Post/Operative Care setting, Primary Care setting).
c. All 22 qualitative studies drew a total of 896 participants.
Patients, caregivers, nurses, physicians, counselors,
radiologists/radiographers, pharmacists, registrars, and
administrators were among those who took part.
d. The data was collected using a pie chart, analytic
approaches, and a histogram. A pie chart depicting the types
of studies included in this review (n = 32). In qualitative
studies, analytic approaches were used. A histogram
depicting the yearly distribution of studies included. A
histogram illustrating the distribution of studies across
various care contexts.
e. The first step was to find participants who were a good fit
for the study. Furthermore, because the researchers used a
qualitative data collection method, the study was carried out
using open-ended survey questionnaires, one-on-one
interviews, focus groups, and direct observation to obtain
and gather data.
6. Results/Findings
 What was the finding for each
question/objective/aim?
7. Conclusion
 How did the study address the problem or issue?
8. Recommendations
 What recommendations/suggestions did the study
provide?

The study discovered that communication in
nurse-patient interactions has been studied in
HIV/AIDS, maternal and reproductive care,
intensive and palliative care,
operative/postoperative care, and primary
healthcare settings in a few countries in SubSahara Africa. According to the findings for its
objective, excessive workload, nursing staff, poor
communication skills, and lack of involvement of
nursing managers in the care process have a
negative impact on nurse’s ability to interact
effectively with their clients.

The problem is addressed in the study by nursing
training programs and the involvement of nursing
managers and healthcare administrators in
improving communication between the nurse and
patient.

The study concludes with recommendations. More
research on nurse-patient interaction and
communication in other healthcare settings (e.g.,
emergency care, elderly care, pediatric care units,
and others) is needed to provide a broader
perspective on the topic. There is also pressing
need for communication and interpersonal
relationship skills courses to be included in health
professional training programs so that healthcare
providers can communicate effectively with their
patients. It was also suggested that nurses and
other healthcare providers should engage patients
in the care process to promote patient
empowerment.