Conversation between nurses and patients with aphasia : how to stay out of trouble

This study aimed to investigate the conversational practices used by nursing staff interacting with patients with aphasia in a rehabilitation health care setting. Six dyads, each comprising of a qualified nurse and an adult with moderate to severe aphasia, were videotaped conversing in the hospital, yielding an hour of data. The conversations were transcribed in detail and subjected to conversation analysis (the ethnomethodological type), in order to identify the practices used by the partnership to negotiate meaning and achieve social satisfaction. An emphasis was placed during analysis on the strategies used by the nurses, in order to generate insights that could be applied to partner training. Analysis of the data revealed a pattern of nurses avoiding visible trouble in the conversations, which was accomplished by minimizing the interactive consequences of repair, glossing over potential sources of trouble, and managing the conversation in a manner that limited the potential for trouble to occur. The interactive advantages and disadvantages of this strategy of are discussed, along with theoretical and clinical implications.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Hoffman, Kate

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Van der Walt, Rina

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8638

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8638