title: Hospice nurse communication with patients with cancer and their family caregivers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Effective communication by hospice nurses enhances symptom management for the patient, reduces family caregiver burden and distress, and potentially improves bereavement adjustment. However, research has not kept pace with the rising use of hospice by patients with cancer and thus we know little about how hospice nurses communicate.
  
  
  METHODS
  The overriding objective of this pilot study was to provide insight into these in-home visits. Hospice nurses audiorecorded their interactions over time with family caregivers and patients with cancer. The communication within these tapes was coded using Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) and analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that tape recording home hospice nurse visits was feasible. RIAS was suited to capture the general content and process of the home hospice encounter and the coded interactions show the range of topics and emotions that are evident in the dialogue. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA. lee.ellington@nurs.utah.edu
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ellington
authors.forename: Maija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reblin
authors.forename: Margaret F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mooney
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013637:Tape Recording; D014589:Utah