Effect of Therapeutic Communication on Pain Anxiety and Burn Wounds Healing Status

The main type of anxiety in burned patients is the one caused by pain. Emotional support can tranquilize patients during the process of care and treatment. This research has been conducted to study how Therapeutic Communication can help reduce the pain anxiety and how it affects recovery from burn wounds. This quasi-experimental research was conducted in a period of ten months in 2005 in the women’s burn ward of Imam Reza hospital in Mashhad. The sample included 60 patients، who were selected non-randomly and were divided into two groups of 30 women، half in intervention and half in control group. The data collection tools were self-report checklist to determine pain anxiety and the observation checklist to observe the extent of burn wound healing. The Therapeutic Communication plan was implemented for the intervention group. Data were analyzed by SPSS 12 software using Chi-square، independent T and Variance Analysis tests. No significant statistical difference regarding the rate of anxiety (P=0. 63) and wound healing (p=0. 73) was observed between control and intervention groups in the pre-intervention stage. During and after the intervention، the rate of anxiety in the subjects of the intervention group was significantly decreased (p=0. 0001). Also the rate of wound healing in the intervention group was significantly increased during (p=0. 018) and after (p=0. 001) the intervention، comparing to the control group. The average rate of wound healing after the intervention in the subjects of control and intervention groups showed a significant difference (p=0. 009). The therapeutic communication between the nurse and patients positively influences the reduction of anxiety and the process of wound healing.