The nursing programme 'Coping with Itch' led to a reduction in the frequency of itching and scratching and to a reduction of catastrophizing and helpless coping in patients with chronic pruritic skin diseases during the period immediately following the intervention. We suggest further follow-up visits to the itch clinic to extend these results over a longer period.

This paper describes an empirical evaluation of communication skills training for nurses in elderly care. The training programme was based on Video Interaction Analysis and aimed to improve nurses' communication skills such that they pay attention to patients' physical, social and emotional needs and support self care in elderly people. The effects of the training course were measured in an experimental and control group. They were rated by independent observers, by comparing videotapes of nursing encounters before and after training. Forty nurses participated in 316 videotaped nursing encounters. Multi-level analysis was used to take into account similarity among same nurse encounters. It was found that nurses who followed the training programme, provided the patients with more information about nursing and health topics. They also used more open-ended questions. In addition, they were rated as more involved, warmer and less patronizing. Due to limitations in the study design, it could not be demonstrated that these findings can entirely be ascribed to the training course. Further research, incorporating a randomized controlled design and larger sample sizes, is recommended to determine whether the results can be attributed to this specific type of training.

This study provides new insights into the moral and practical meaning of caregiving, which will help professionals understand the roles adopted by family members. Furthermore, individualized approaches to care appear to be essential, because concrete ideas about informal caregiving differ strongly despite shared values.