Vol. 2, Issue 1, Part A (2025)

Effective nurse-patient communication is fundamental to high-quality, patient-centred care, yet numerous studies show that nurses in everyday practice face persistent barriers that compromise understanding, adherence, and satisfaction, particularly in busy outpatient settings. Outpatient clinics are characterised by brief encounters, high patient turnover, and diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, all of which can intensify communication challenges compared with inpatient care. This cross-sectional survey is designed to identify the most common nurse-patient communication barriers in outpatient clinics and to explore practical, clinic-level solutions. The research will include nurses and adult patients attending outpatient departments of a tertiary care hospital, using a structured, pre-validated questionnaire covering nurse-related, patient-related, environmental, organisational, and socio-cultural domains. Descriptive and inferential statistics will be used to rank the frequency and perceived severity of barriers and to examine associations between selected demographic variables (such as nurse experience, workload, and patient literacy) and perceived communication barriers, as well as their relationship with patient satisfaction scores. It is anticipated that the most frequently reported obstacles will include heavy workload and time constraints, overcrowded and noisy clinic environments, language and health-literacy gaps, and limited privacy during consultations. The findings are expected to show that higher levels of perceived barriers are associated with lower patient-reported satisfaction and weaker intention to adhere to treatment recommendations. Based on the pattern of barriers identified, the research will propose feasible strategies for outpatient clinics, such as targeted communication-skills training, use of simple visual or written aids, attention to clinic layout and workflow, and structured communication tools to guide brief consultations. Overall, this research aims to generate context-specific evidence that can guide nurse managers, educators, and policymakers in designing interventions to strengthen nurse-patient communication and, ultimately, improve the quality and safety of care delivered in outpatient settings.