title: Relational message themes in nurses' listening behavior during brief patient-nurse interactions.
abstract: Using a relational message framework, this study examined themes communicated by nurses' listening behavior during brief patient-nurse interactions and whether the pattern of thematic scores reflected a positive patient-nurse relationship. A sample of 126 White college women individually viewed a videotape of six nurses listening to a patient-actress for 25 to 32 seconds. Participants reported what each nurses' listening behavior communicated on a 30-item instrument. Principal axis factoring using a seven-factor solution explained 57.7% to 65.0% of the common variance. Six of the factors proposed in the relational message framework were identified in each interaction: Trust/Receptivity, Depth/Similarity/Affection, Difference, Composure, Dominance or Power, and Formality. In four interactions the pattern of thematic scores suggested communication of a positive patient-nurse relationship. Thus it appears that the communication of positive patient-nurse relationships is not necessarily precluded by the time constraints in contemporary nursing practice.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gilbert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D004645:Empathy; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D016544:Patient Simulation; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012919:Social Behavior; D012930:Social Dominance; D014743:Videotape Recording