A narrative inquiry: How do nurses respond to patients' use of humour?

In today's healthcare system where technical instruments and test results are used to implement care it is easy to lose the human aspect of nursing. Personal interaction can get lost and nurses sometimes miss humorous attempts made by patients. Humour is a very personal concept, what one person...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary nurse : a journal for the Australian nursing profession 2014-02, Vol.46 (2), p.197-205
Main Authors: Haydon, Gunilla, Riet, Pamela Van Der
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attitude of Health Personnel
Australia
Communication
Empathy
Female
Humans
Humor
humour
Middle Aged
narrative inquiry
Narrative inquiry (Research method)
nurse
Nurse and patient
Nurse-Patient Relations
Nurses
Nursing
Nursing - methods
patient
Patients
Psychology
Psychotherapy
Research methodology
therapeutic relationship
Verbal communication
Wit and humor
Wit and Humor as Topic
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Summary:In today's healthcare system where technical instruments and test results are used to implement care it is easy to lose the human aspect of nursing. Personal interaction can get lost and nurses sometimes miss humorous attempts made by patients. Humour is a very personal concept, what one person thinks is funny does not necessarily make another person smile, or might even be hurtful. Humour is an important communication tool for patients as it humanises the nurses, creates a bond and opens communication lines. Humour has the potential to change the hospital experience for patients. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of humour in the therapeutic relationship between patient and nurse. Semi-structured interviews were held with four registered nurses and narrative inquiry was used to analyse and present the findings because of its ability to capture human interaction and experience.
ISSN:1037-6178
1839-3535
DOI:10.5172/conu.2014.46.2.197