Discourse analysis is a qualitative research approach that allows one to evaluate individual’s use of language, whether verbal or written. The purpose is to be able to use an ordinary conversation or way of communication and deduce it’s meaning. This allows researchers to give solutions to everyday problems, such as the study done on misunderstandings in consultations. Discourse analysis has an emphasis on the use of language, honing in on pronunciation, emphasis, excitement, use of positive words, and the evaluation of expression. Ultimately discourse analysis allows researchers to study the interaction between people in communication. In terms of health and illness, discourse analysis can be useful in many things such as diagnosis and state of emergency of a patient.
In “Discourse analysis of nurse-patient communication in a hospital,” a sample of 20 nurse and patient pairs from differing hospitals engaged in taped conversations. The discourse analysis showed that nurses often missed cues of patients. This could be detrimental in the mental, physical, and emotional health of the patient. As a solution, they suggest staff teaching strategies that increase “symmetrical nurse-patient communication” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17538264
1. Health and illness does not necessarily need to be measured by numerical data, such as heart rate, BP, etc. A conversation can give information on an individuals well being. If the nurse misses a cue when a patient is in need of attention, it could be life-threatening. Discourse analysis is a good tool in detecting what additional communication skills could be useful in the health care field. 2. This study only looked at 20 relationships between nurses and patients, which may pose a problem for individuals because of the reliability. I feel that the small amount of data collected from just 20 interactions proves that this method may be useful in many different areas because it gives valuable information from daily, common interactions that may be looked over.
