title: Nurse and patient characteristics associated with duration of nurse talk during patient encounters in ICU.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Communication interactions between nurses and mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are typically brief. Factors associated with length of nurses' communication have not been explored.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between nurse and patient characteristics and duration of nurse talk.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this secondary analysis, we calculated duration of nurse talk in the first 3-min of video-recorded communication observation sessions for each nurse-patient dyad (n = 89) in the SPEACS study (4 observation sessions/dyad, n = 356). In addition, we explored the association between nurses' characteristics (age, gender, credentials, nursing experience, and critical care experience) and patients' characteristics (age, gender, race, education, delirium, agitation-sedation, severity of illness, level of consciousness, prior intubation history, days intubated prior to study enrollment, and type of intubation) on duration of nurse talk during the 3-min interaction observation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Duration of nurse talk ranged from 0-123 s and varied significantly over the 4 observation sessions (p = .007). Averaging the duration of nurse talk over the observation sessions, differences in talk time between the units varied significantly by study group (p < .001). Talk duration was negatively associated with a Glasgow Coma Scale ≤14 (p = .008). Length of intubation prior to study enrollment had a curvilinear relationship with talking duration (linear p = .002, quadratic p = .013); the point of inflection was at 23 days. Nurse characteristics were not significantly related to duration of nurse talk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Length of time the patient is intubated, and the patient's level of consciousness may influence duration of nurse communication in ICU.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, School of Nursing, Department of Acute and Tertiary Care, 336 Victoria Building, 3500 Victoria Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. Mlf981@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Marci Lee
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Nilsen
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sereika
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Happ
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009726:Nurses; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000451:nursing*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult