The combination of videotapes and qualitative ethological methods offers researchers investigating the interactions between health care providers and patients the opportunity to gain rich, complex understandings of the interaction dynamics that lead to enhanced health care outcomes. Verbal and nonverbal behaviors of patients and nurses were analyzed using videotapes of caregiving. Using techniques of qualitative ethology, the purpose of this study was to examine and describe patterns of transition from one type of nurse attending to another. Furthermore, this analysis provided the opportunity to identify the importance of the transitions within nurse-patient interactions. Three patterns of transition were identified: weaving proficiency with presence, sensitive responses, and creating openings. Behaviors that did not result in the expected pattern were described as missed opportunities. The findings support complex, dynamic, and relational conceptualizations of nurse-patient interaction and offer an alternative to using linear, unidirectional problem-solving and communication models.
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