Therapeutic communication between the nurse and the family of the patient in critical care: a humanized approach

Therapeutic communication is fundamental in the care provided by the nursing staff to the family. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the therapeutic communication between the nurse and the family of the patient in critical care, based on Jean Watson's theory of humanized care. Method: Mixed, cross-sectional, exploratory study, the research population consisted of 13 nurses belonging to the intensive care unit (ICU) and 15 family members of critically ill patients in Puyo county. Results: it could be evidenced that there is a good predisposition on the part of the nursing staff to provide humanized care to the family; however, it is necessary to improve to some extent the quality of communication and emotional support, so that the staff and the family have a unified opinion, which allows raising the satisfaction standards of the users. Conclusions: It was evidenced that therapeutic communication is an important aspect. Since it allows maintaining calm in a complicated process, where the nursing professional should contribute to provide emotional support to the family while providing comprehensive nursing actions to the patient.