It is evident that patients want to discuss spiritual topics during care. Study findings illustrate the need to develop a spiritual communication curriculum and provide spiritual care communication training to clinicians.

This report investigates audio-taped gynaecological exam interactions that took place between one nurse practitioner and 41 female patients. Twelve instances of verbal play were transcribed from these exam conversations and analysed in order to demonstrate ways in which play sequences display participants' orientation to non-medical goals of the exam. Such goals include recognising the practitioner and patient as persons rather than as technician and technical object and reducing the face-threat of the exam. It is suggested that the analysis of naturally occurring conversation permits access to the conversational practices used by interactants both to generate and to achieve multiple goals.

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This research utilizes a communication perspective to examine the dissemination of information about menopause in terms of women's attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge. Specifically, this study uses a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to explore the communicative processes of misinformation concerning women's lived experiences in relation to the climacteric. Five emergent themes extracted from premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal women's discourse are identified and described through qualitative data analysis. Findings suggest that due to a lack of consistent communication, women are generally either unknowledgeable or misinformed about menopause and its related issues. Inaccurate information concerning a health-related experience that all women undergo has negative implications for women, their practitioners, and society. Moreover, a clearer understanding of women's experiences concerning menopause may enhance communication in physician-patient interactions (PPIs).

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