title: Nurse practitioners' communication styles and their impact on patient outcomes: an integrated literature review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this review was to examine the published research from 1999 to 2005 describing nurse practitioner (NP)-patient interactions and to determine the best practice to enhance patient outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Databases searched included Academic Search Elite, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Health Source Consumer Edition, Health Source Nursing/Academic Edition, Medline, and PsychInfo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Two communication styles described in the literature and determined by authors were (a) biomedical and (b) biopsychosocial. The biopsychosocial style is identified as patient-centered communication. Seven studies were then analyzed for NPs' communication styles and the impact that they had on patient outcomes. The studies analyzed demonstrated that biopsychosocial (patient-centered) communication style positively influences patient outcomes as evidenced by (a) improved patient satisfaction, (b) increased adherence to treatment plans, and (c) improved patient health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this review indicate that patient-centered communication incorporated into the NPs' practice is associated with improving patient outcomes such as (a) improved patient satisfaction, (b) increased adherence to treatment plans, and (c) improved patient health. Future research needs to be performed in order to fully study the relationship between NPs using patient-centered communication style and its impact on patient outcomes. Clinical recommendations are made based on findings of the integrated literature review.
authors.affiliation: Department of Corrections, State of Utah, Draper, Utah, USA.
authors.forename: Cody R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Charlton
authors.forename: Karen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Dearing
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Mary Jayne
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D003144:Communication Barriers; D006801:Humans; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D017060:Patient Satisfaction