Exploring the communication experiences of stroke nurses and patients with aphasia in an acute stroke unit

ABSTRACT

Aim

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of stroke nurses and patients with aphasia on their experiences of communicating in an acute stroke hospital unit.

Method

Five stroke nurses and six patients with aphasia participated in this study. The nurses participated in a focus group and the patients participated in one-on-one interviews. The focus group and interviews were semi-structured and elicited information from participants about potential facilitators and barriers to successful communication in the acute unit. The focus group and interviews were recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results

Analysis of the interview transcripts generated five key themes. Theme one, two and three represented perspectives of both nurses and patients with aphasia. Theme four was represented by patients only and theme by nurses only. Themes reflected: (1) the frustration experienced by nurses and patients with aphasia when communicating; (2) the perceptions of nurses and patients with aphasia on the use of communication supports; (3) the beliefs on what healthcare information needs to be shared between nurses and patients with aphasia; (4) the excellent care provided by nurses to patients with aphasia; and (5) the positive attitude of nurses when communicating with people with aphasia.

Conclusions

Stroke nurses and patients with aphasia experience difficulty communicating. These findings suggest that specific strategies, such as tailored Communication Partner Training (CPT) for nurses and centralised nurse access to a range of communication aids and resources, might contribute to the formation of a more communicatively accessible acute hospital environment for patients with aphasia.

KEYWORDS:

• Nurse
• stroke
• communication disorder
• communication‌
• acute
• accessible
• healthcare‌
• aphasia

Acknowledgements

The authors thank staff working in the speech pathology department and on the acute stroke unit at Barwon Health who supported this research and thank the patients and nurses who agreed to participate in the study. The authors also thank Olivia King, Allied Health Research and Translation Co-Lead at Barwon Health, for her invaluable support and guidance with this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a Barwon Health Education Training and Research Profile Fund grant.