Nurses’ experiences of communicating respect to patients: influences and challenges

Abstract

Background: Respectful care is central to ethical codes of practice and optimal patient care, but little is known on influences on and challenges in communicating respect. Research question: What are the intra- and inter-personal influences on nurses’ communication of respect? Research design and participants: Semi-structured interviews with 12 hospital-based United Kingdom registered nurses were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore their experiences of communicating respect to patients and associated influences. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the Institutional ethics board and National Health Service Trust. Findings: Three interconnected superordinate themes were identified: ‘private self: personal attitudes’, ‘outward self: showing respect’ and ‘reputational self: being perceived as respectful’. Respectful communication involved a complex set of influences, including attitudes of respect towards patients, needs and goals, beliefs around the nature of respectful communication, skills and influencing sociocultural factors. A tension between the outward self as intended and perceived presented challenges for nurses’ reputational self as respectful, with negative implications for patient care. Discussion: The study offers an in-depth understanding of intra- and interpersonal influences on communicating respect, and sheds light on challenges involved, helping provide practical insights to support respectful care.