OBJECTIVES: to analyze the information received by the family from patients interned in intensive care units about their clinical condition and arguing with the nursing team possibilities of new strategies of interventions to theses patients' relatives. Research was carried out in a university hospital institution. Investigated individuals were patients' family and nursing team. For data collection it was used sixty hours of participant observation and ten semi-structured interviews, beyond the creation and generation of the movie based on field's diary notations. For data analysis it was used thematic content analysis. Resulting categories were: the communication and the nursing and the care with the family. It was concluded that the nursing care as one complex practice that exceeds the use of techniques and/or technology, implies the necessity of an efficient communication potential.
Nursing; Communication; Professional-family relations