Journal of

Background and Aim: Since managers' efficiency depends on their communication skills suitable for their employees, this study was conducted to determine such skills among Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) managers.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 298 SUMS employees working at different departments were selected through simple random sampling technique. The data-collection device was a 21-item questionnaire having 3 parts: verbal skill, effective listening, and feedback communication skills. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Statistical tests employed included Pearson correlation, T-Test and ANOVA, and the level of significance was determined at 0.05.

Results: The respondents' mean age was 32.7 years. Most of them were female, had a bachelor's degree, and worked in logistics department. According to their judgment, their managers had good verbal and effective listening skills, but were average in their feedback. The highest score for communication skills was reported for the students' department and the lowest score for the research department. Older and more experienced employees evaluated their manager's feedback skill (p= 0.001) at a lower level. The statistical test indicated a significant relationship between feedback and level of education (p= 0.001).

Conclusion: It seems that the intermediate level of effective listening and feedback skills are due to the managers' lack of sufficient scientific and practical attention to the issue of communication. Therefore, it is recommended that educational workshops be held for managers to make them familiar with the importance of effective communication skills.

Background and Aim: Work engagement is defined as a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Since the quality of care delivery to patients depends on nurse's practices, the objective of this study was to determine work engagement & its effective factors among nurses of general hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.

Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was performed among 273 in-patient nurses of Namazi and Faghihi hospitals using 2 stages of sampling. Our questionnaire was validated by experts opinions and Cronbach's alpha index (86%). Descriptive statistics and correlation tests were used for the analysis of data by SPSS.

Results: According to the results obtained, mean work engagement was 58.95 ± 10.51 and there was a significant correlation between work engagement and organizational - supervisor support, organizational justice, job characteristics, reward & recognition, organizational citizenship behavior, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, turnover( p<0.05). The relationship between work engagement and reward was the strongest(r=0.512).

Conclusion: The results imply the importance of work engagement and its related factors. Nurses are one of the biggest health system groups, and their burnout disadvantages hospitals and community. Thus, work engagement should be noticed in all policy-making related to nurses.

Background and Aim: The patient is the main customer for hospital services. Patient satisfaction can reflect if the services are performed correctly. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the degree of client tribute plan and inpatients and outpatients satisfaction in Shiraz hospitals.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytic and cross sectional study was done among 211 inpatients and 1,175 outpatients in 8 Shiraz hospitals. The instruments for data collection were two client tribute plan and patient satisfaction questionnaires. Data collected by interviews and observation. Data were entered into SPSS. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation test were used for data analysis.
Results: Forty five point four percent of patients and 44.1 percent of outpatients assessed the hospital service satisfaction as weak. The mean score of inpatient and outpatient satisfaction was 60.53±8.9 and 54.22±12.6 respectively. There were significant relationship between type of admission and satisfaction (p=0.001). Mean score of client tribute plan was 182.44±11.8 that placed in the appropriate level. There were no significant relationships between client tribute plan and inpatients and outpatients satisfaction (p=0.143).
Conclusion: Although client tribute plans perform properly, patient satisfaction is low. In this regard, it is recommended that review client tribute plan clients in healthcare systems and adopt its contents with the needs of patients.