RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Communication is referred as one of the most important needs by the families of intensive care unit patients. AIM OF THE STUDY: To analyze nursing perception of the communication process with the family members of an intensive care unit patient. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Transversal study (December 2012) with a questionnaire Nurse Activities for Communicating with Families (NACF), cross-culturally adapted by Santana Cabrera et al. Participants: intensive care unit nurses from a third level university hospital. Descriptive analysis of variables and inferential statistics with Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis, statistic program SPSS 17.0; significant P < .05. RESULTS: Complementation was of 80% (132 out of 166 nurses). The average experience was of 9.6 ± 7.95 years. 55.9% sometimes explain to families the treatment and equipment of the patient and a 37% almost always. Nurses talk to the families about the disease and the treatment given to the patient always/almost always in 59% of the cases and sometimes in a 35.38%. 54,6% talk to the family about their feelings sometimes and a 28.46% almost always. A 47.8% notify always/almost always changes on the care plan. 87.9% ensure patient comfort always/almost always. There is no relation between years of experience in ICU and the outcomes of the questionnaire. There is a relation between the different kinds of ICUs and the information given about disease and treatment. DISCUSSION: Nurses tend to inform more about technical aspects than feelings related to the families. Patient comfort is the most referred item regardless of years of experience and the kind of intensive care unit.