Cardiovascular Responses of CCU Patients When Communicating With Nurses, Physicians, and Families

The goal of health care for critically ill, coronary care patients is to provide a therapeutic environment. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of communication and the role of the communicator on heart rate and blood pressure of coronary care patients. This study was part of a larger project examining the effects of the environment on patients. Forty-five-min episodes of naturally occurring conversations in 20 subjects' rooms in the coronary care unit were recorded over 2 days. Recordings of blood pressure and heart rate were obtained every 3 min from an automatic sphygmomanometer and the subject's bedside monitor, respectively. Patient communication, when compared with quiet, was associated significantly with increased maximum heart rate. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and minimum heart rate did not significantly change. Blood pressure and heart rate were not significantly different when comparing communication with nurses, physicians, and families. Further description of patients' actual responses to their environments is needed to guide actions, such as staff and family timing of interactions with these critically ill patients.