Facilitating communication: how to truly understand what patients mean.

1. Patients experience greater satisfaction with nursing care when they are truly understood. 2. Being aware of taken-for-granted meanings and committing the time to seek clarification and explore meanings are two basic principles that can facilitate understanding. 3. Techniques nurses can use to facilitate understanding include restating what was heard to ensure understanding and to demonstrate active listening, asking open-ended questions, and checking for understanding.