Effective communication in an intensive care setting: Nurses' stories
Kim Usher
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Nutrition, James Cook University, Cairns QLD
Denise Monkley
School of Nursing Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville QLD
PP: 091 - 101
Abstract
Effective communication has been long considered an important aspect of nurse-patient interactions. However, follow up of people who have been patients in intensive care units (ICUs) indicates that nurses' communication in this setting is at times unsatisfactory. Patients have described how they were left feeling frustrated and alienated by this failure in the communication process and unconscious patients report how they were aware of nurses' attempts at communication with them while unconscious (Lawrence, 1995).
Because most of the research to date has focused on patients' perceptions of nurses' communication in an intensive care unit, this study sought to explore what nurses believed constituted effective communication in an intensive care setting. Therefore, a qualitative study was undertaken to explore nurses' perceptions of effective communication with patients in an intensive care setting. The stories of four intensive care nurses were utilised as the means of data collection.
The analysed data revealed the following themes: nurses' perceptions, presencing and reassurance. The findings have relevance for nurses in many settings.
Keywords
effective communication; intensive care; stories; narrative
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