Therapeutic communication between nurses and patients from a hospital unit

Abstract

Communication is an everyday competence of nurses, factor in the aid relationship and indicator of the care evaluation. This work aimed to describe the therapeutic communication between nurses and patients in the hospital. It is a descriptive exploratory study with a quantitative approach, conducted in a hospital from the state of Ceará in October of 2007, with 05 nurses, through systematic observation of interactions established with the inpatients. A check-list was used to record the data, containing strategies for effective communication, in each interaction. From the 21 interactions, some are directed exclusively to communicative practice, such as the guidelines to patients. Others referred to the following procedures: vesical catheterization; checking vital signs, wound dressing, monitoring progress and labor; venipuncture and immunization. From the interactions, the nurse C was the professional who communicated in the most therapeutic way (42.9%). From the remaining 12 interactions (57.1%), performed by nurses A, B, D and E, 8 were non-therapeutic. Out of these, the most used item was the professional jargon, an important factor that can negatively affect patient outcomes. Nurses must know and implement in their routine strategies for therapeutic communication as a way to meet the needs of patients.

Descriptors: Communication. Nursing, Nursing Care.