title: Learning to understand a patient's silence.
abstract: Nurses often feel uncomfortable with silence in their interactions with patients. This article explores a variety of meanings of silence and the different interpretations of silence within different cultures. Some therapeutic uses and responses to silence are then explored.
authors.affiliation: Garston Clinic, Watford.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lomax
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010551:Personality