Ordinary chat and therapeutic conversation: phatic communication and mental health nursing.
This paper offers a definition of 'phatic communication' and identifies examples of it. The paper also illustrates how a knowledge of such communication is useful for mental health nurses in conversation with their clients and colleagues. The importance of turn taking in conversations is also discussed in a cultural context. Various examples of phatic communication are offered.
School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, Wales, UK. burnard@cf.ac.uk
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D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing