| Summary |
The essence of this descriptive involved study demonstrating the amount of reciprocity in humanistic and nonhumanistic interaction that occurs between the nurse and the mechanically ventilated patient. In addition, the study compared the amount of humanistic interaction that occurs among nurses and those patients being "weaned from" versus "supported by" mechanical ventilation. The project was based on Duldt's Theory of Humanistic Nursing Communication, which recognizes the application of humanistic communication while applying the nursing process as a means of becoming increasingly sensitive and aware of the client's potential. Random observations of twenty nurse-patient interaction situations were made over a fifteen to thirty minute interval using the instrument Categories of Nurse-Patient Interaction developed by Salyer and Stuart in 1975 to assign positive or negative values to the action-reaction choices observed between the nurse and patient. Subjects consisted of twenty critical care staff nurses employed in a large, Southeastern United States hospital and twenty patients from two critical care areas within that hospital. Patients were on mechanical ventilation but were awake, alert and capable of interacting nonverbally with others. Data analysis showed that reciprocity of humanizing and dehumanizing communication behaviors does exist among nurses and patients on mechanical ventilation. In addition, more humanizing communicative behavior was found to exist between nurses and patients being weaned than between nurses and patients supported by mechanical ventilation. Overall, the results of the study indicate that reciprocal behavior, both humanizing and dehumanizing, does occur in this particular patient care situation. "Silence during the initiation of care" a nurse action choice, was reciprocated the largest number of times throughout the twenty observation periods. These findings conflict with Duldt's Theory of Humanistic Communication, which inplies that a nurse may realize a client's greatest potential by avoiding dehumanizing communication and replacing it with attitudes, patterns and communication behaviors that humanize. More research is needed to delineate factors that lead to humanizing versus dehumanizing communication behavior in the critical care nurse under critical life situations for the mechanically ventilated patient. |
