- This study is aimed at investigating outpatients' and clients' experience of communication with a group of employees of a hospital in the North of Italy. Participants in the study were 328 patients/users who were asked to report their communicative experience with 20 hospital employees using the Health Care Communication Questionnaire (HCCQ). Employees were 40% administrative, 60% ambulatory nurses and technicians, and 82% females. The comparison between employees on scores obtained showed significant differences in two of the four factors of the questionnaire (Lack of hostility and Non verbal immediacy). Furthermore, the female employees have been perceived by patients as less hostile then men. Female patients/users felt to be more respected then males, but this difference was linked to age, as among males the feeling of being respected decreased with age. Finally, it was possible to observe the scores obtained by each hospital employee in the HCCQ factors, to detect which of the four communicative behaviours has been evaluated by the users as less appropriate. This seems useful for planning personalized training.Key words: communication, patients, hospital personnel.Parole chiave: comunicazione, pazienti, personale ospedaliero
