Luz M. Infante-Sorrosa, Enfermería en Cuidados Intensivos, Centro Médico Naval (Secretaría de Marina), Cuidad de México, México
Juana Patlan-Pérez, Enfermería en Cuidados Intensivos, Centro Médico Naval (Secretaría de Marina), Cuidad de México, México
Joel Martínez-Martínez, Enfermería en Cuidados Intensivos, Centro Médico Naval (Secretaría de Marina), Cuidad de México, México
Objective: To determine the level of effective communication before and after the use of pictograms between nursing staff and critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Unit during 2024. Method: This was an observational, analytical, and longitudinal study. Sample of 32 critically ill patients with conscious orotracheal intubation and tracheostomy without sedation treatment. The instruments were a pictogram notebook and the questionnaire of effective communication before and after the use of pictograms. For the analysis, the paired sample t-test (Student) was used to compare means; data were analyzed with SPSS v. 26. Results: The level of effective communication before the use of pictograms was 75% fair and after the use of pictograms it was 78.9% good. The results indicate a significant difference between the two means (–25.62) with a statistically significant increase in the level of effective communication (p < 0.000). Conclusions: The level of effective communication increases using pictograms in patients with an artificial airway such as orotracheal intubation or tracheostomy as a communication constraint, with a significantly higher increase in patients with orotracheal intubation.
Keywords: Communication. Nurse. Critically ill patient. Pictograms.