Non‐verbal behaviour in nurse–elderly patient communication

Abstract

Non-verbal behaviour in nurse±elderly patient communicationThis study explores the occurrence of non-verbal communication in nurse± elderly patient interaction in two different care settings: home nursing and a home for the elderly. In a sample of 181 nursing encounters involving 47 nurses a study was made of videotaped nurse±patient communication. Six non-verbal behaviours were observed: patient-directed eyegaze, af®rmative head nodding, smiling, forward leaning, affective touch and instrumental touch. With the exception of instrumental touch these non-verbal behaviours are important in establishing a good relationship with the patient. To study the relationship between non-verbal and verbal communication, verbal communication was observed using an adapted version of Roter's Interaction Analysis System, which distinguishes socio-emotional and task-related communication. Data were analysed in hierarchical linear models. The results demonstrated that nurses use mainly eyegaze, head nodding and smiling to establish a good relation with their patients. The use of affective touch is mainly attributable to nurses' personal style. Compared to nurses in the community, nurses in the home for the elderly more often display non-verbal behaviours such as patientdirected gaze and affective touch.

Effects of snoezelen, integrated in 24h dementia care, on nurse–patient communication during morning care

“…Although, in general, they experienced some (minor) stress in advance, the majority reported that stress did not really affect their behaviour or that of the resident and that the video reflected the normal situation. Despite the obvious fact that they were being observed, the CNAs and residents adapted to the presence of the observer, as has been often reported in observational research before [35,42].…”

“…Based on the research of Caris-Verhallen et al [35,47], Kerkstra et al [13] and Kruijver [48], nonverbal affective behaviours were selected that appeared to be particularly important for the establishment of the nurse-elderly relationship. The observation scheme contains the following indicators of rapport-building nonverbal communication: three nonverbal affective categories for CNAs (eye-contact, affective touch, smiling) and two nonverbal affective categories for residents (eye-contact, smiling).…”

“…Table 1 shows the definitions for the nonverbal indicators used in this study. The instrument has shown to reliable in previous studies [13,35,47,48]. For eye-contact, affective and instrumental touch, the duration was rated.…”

“…To observe nonverbal communication, we relied on instruments used in the studies of Caris-Verhallen [35], Kerkstra et al [13] and Kruijver [48]. As regards verbal communication, we built on RIAS [49].…”

“…To promote a sense of mutual togetherness with the resident, caregivers need to balance in their interactions, verbal as well as nonverbal [33]. Nonverbal communication supports the verbal communication, conveys interpersonal attitudes and emotional states and functions as substitute for language if speech is impossible [7,[34][35][36]. Gazing and smiling convey interest and warmth.…”