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Behind the doors of home hospice patients: A secondary qualitative analysis of hospice nurse communication with patients and families

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Debra Parker Oliver ,
Jessica Tappana ,
Karla T. Washington Open the ORCID record for Karla T. Washington [Opens in a new window] ,
Abigail Rolbiecki ,
Kevin Craig ,
George Demiris ,
Collyn Schafer ,
Mumeenat Winjobi ,
Margaret F. Clayton  and
Maija Reblin
...Show all authors
Debra Parker Oliver*
Affiliation:
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri
Jessica Tappana
Affiliation:
Aspire Counseling, Columbia, MO
Karla T. Washington
Affiliation:
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri
Abigail Rolbiecki
Affiliation:
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri
Kevin Craig
Affiliation:
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri
George Demiris
Affiliation:
Department of Biobehavioral and Health Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing
Collyn Schafer
Affiliation:
Medical student, University of Missouri
Mumeenat Winjobi
Affiliation:
Medical student, University of Missouri
Margaret F. Clayton
Affiliation:
College of Nursing
Maija Reblin
Affiliation:
Department of Health Outcomes & Behavior, Moffitt Cancer Center
Lee Ellington
Affiliation:
College of Nursing
*
Author for correspondence: Debra Parker Oliver, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri, One Hospital Drive Columbia, Missouri 65203. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

Hospice nurses frequently encounter patients and families under tremendous emotional distress, yet the communication techniques they use in emotionally charged situations have rarely been investigated. In this study, researchers sought to examine hospice nurses’ use of validation communication techniques, which have been shown in prior research to be effective in supporting individuals experiencing emotional distress.

Method

Researchers performed a directed content analysis of audiorecordings of 65 hospice nurses’ home visits by identifying instances when nurses used validation communication techniques and rating the level of complexity of those techniques.

Result

All nurses used validation communication techniques at least once during their home visits. Use of lower level (i.e., more basic) techniques was more common than use of higher level (i.e., more complex) techniques.

Significance of Results

Although hospice nurses appear to use basic validation techniques naturally, benefit may be found in the use of higher level techniques, which have been shown to result in improved clinical outcomes in other settings.

Keywords

HospiceNursesCommunicationFamily CaregiversValidation
Type
Original Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 17 , Issue 5 , October 2019 , pp. 579 - 583
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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