Patient Satisfaction News

Is Sitting the New Patient Communication Strategy for Nurses?

Nurses sitting down during patient communications raised patient satisfaction from the 9th to the 43rd percentile.

Sitting down may be a new patient communication strategy for nurses.

Source: Thinkstock

By Sara Heath

- Nurses can add an easy-to-implement patient communication strategy to their tool belts, according to a recent study. Research published in the Patient Experience Journal shows that nurses who sit down when communicating with patients yield higher patient satisfaction scores.

The research team developed the strategy, called the Commit to Sit initiative, by looking at evidence-based communication approaches.

“Qualities that show active listening include being eye level, making eye contact, and undistracted conversation,” the researchers reported. “In the acute care setting, the majority of the patients are lying in a hospital bed, making sitting the most logical and non-threatening way to communicate.”