The current study has the purpose of verifying if nurses are able to identify situations in which the nonverbal aspects of interpersonal communication between health professionals and patients constitute an iatrogenic factor. The data were collected through semistructured interviews with eight nurses and were analyzed according to the content analysis methodology. Three categories appeared from the professional discourses, and these categories make evident the perception of iatrogenesis, its consequences and characteristics and the interrelation between non-verbal language and nursing care.
Nonverbal communication; Interpersonal relations; Iatrogenic disease