Introduction. Communication skills of nurses significantly influence the effectiveness of nursing care and treatment provided by an interdisciplinary team. A positive attitude of nursing students towards communication skills training for nurses may influence their willingness to improve such competences. Aim. The aim of the study was an attempt to assess the attitudes of nursing students towards development of communication skills. Material and Methods. A total of 76 students participated in the study. Mean age was 22.7 years. The Communication Skills Attitude Scale, a standardised questionnaire, was used to conduct the study. It comprised 26 statements rated on a five-point Likert scale. In addition, four questions on self-assessment of communication skills with respect to working with patients, their family members, nurses, and other members of a therapeutic team were added to the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used to process scores for particular items on the scale and a key was used to calculate the total score. Results. Nursing students had a positive attitude towards developing communication skills (average total score amounted to 108.9/130). A vast majority of the study participants said that they had to possess good communication skills in order to do their work well (mean score: 4.7/5). Almost all respondents agreed that it was worth acquiring and improving communication skills on medical studies (mean score: 4.7/5). Students self-assessed their communication skills as medium (mean score: 3.72/5). Conclusion. The development of a positive attitude and improvement of communication skills at the very beginning of the career pathway may lead to a situation where nurses have better soft skills and are more willing to develop these competences in the future. The present results showing neutral attitudes of students towards developing communication skills and neutral self-assessment of their competences confirmed the need to introduce communication issues into the curriculum for a nursing programme.

Key words: soft skills, Communication Skills Attitude Scale, students, nursing, communication with patients.