Humanization and Communication Skills: A Cross-Sectional Study in Spanish Nursing Students

Abstract

Introduction: Humanized care is a core indicator of nursing quality, yet its prevalence and determinants among Spanish undergraduates remain unclear. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to fourth-year nursing students from public and private universities. Instruments included the Health Professional’s Humanization Scale (HUMAS), the Communication Styles Inventory-Revised (CSI-R) and a sociodemographic questionnaire that captured prior training: completion of ≥6 h role-playing seminars in patient–family communication. Results: Mean scores were 3.62 ± 0.48 for HUMAS and 2.50 ± 0.52 for CSI-R.Women exceeded men on HUMAS total (p = 0.025) and on Sociability, Emotional Understanding, Dispositional Optimism and Self-Efficacy (all p ≤ 0.013), but not on Affect-Regulation or CSI-R. Age correlated weakly with Optimism (r = 0.24) and Self-Efficacy (r = 0.21). Students who had completed the role-playing seminars recorded higher HUMAS totals (d = 0.50; p = 0.001) and sub-scores, with only a modest gain in Affect-Regulation, and showed a trend towards better CSI-R performance (p = 0.06). No differences emerged by university type. HUMAS and CSI-R correlated moderately (r = 0.32; p = 0.001). In multivariate analysis, training (β = 0.36; p = 0.001) and CSI-R (β = 0.26; p = 0.001) jointly explained 27.9% of humanization variance; male sex exerted a small negative effect (β = −0.19; p = 0.001), whereas age was nonsignificant. Conclusions: Structured communication seminars are a key factor associated with higher levels of humanization in senior nursing students, whereas sociodemographic influences are modest. Embedding longitudinal, simulation-rich modules in communication and emotional intelligence is therefore recommended to cultivate truly person-centered nurses and to narrow observed sex disparities.