When your patient is silent.
In the process of caring for patients, nurses encounter patients who are silent. A number of problems may arise when silence occurs in an interpersonal situation. Among these problems is the different meanings that silence may have from culture to culture. This paper describes the meaning that silence may have across cultures and delineates guidelines for the nurse in responding to the patient who is silent.
Davidhizar
R
R
Bethel College, Mishawaka, Indiana.
Giger
J N
JN
D003142:Communication; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007802:Language; D008257:Machiavellianism; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D012944:Social Support; D013997:Time Factors; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000379:methods