<![CDATA[Background: Therapeutic communication is an important component of nursing care and may be associated with patients’ satisfaction during hospitalization. Purpose: To examine the relationship between nurses’ therapeutic communication and patient satisfaction among hospital inpatients. Method: This quantitative descriptive-correlational study used a cross-sectional design. A total of 89 inpatients at Panembahan Senopati Regional General Hospital, Bantul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were collected using an 18-item therapeutic communication questionnaire and a 19-item patient satisfaction questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rank correlation were used for data analysis. Results: Most respondents rated nurses’ therapeutic communication as good (67; 75.3%), while 22 (24.7%) rated it as fair. All respondents (89; 100.0%) were classified as satisfied with the nursing services received. The reported Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.343, with a p-value of 0.001. However, the available data did not permit independent verification of the correlation analysis, and the absence of variation in the categorized satisfaction variable limits interpretation of the reported association. Conclusion: Most respondents rated nurses’ therapeutic communication positively, and all were classified as satisfied with nursing services. The reported association between therapeutic communication and patient satisfaction should be interpreted cautiously because the underlying statistical analysis could not be independently verified. Keywords: Inpatients; Nurses; Nursing Care; Patient Satisfaction; Therapeutic Communication.]]>
