[Humour in the nurse-patient relation: a review of the literature].

Humour holds an important and almost omni-present place in human communication. Research and reflection on humour have tried to define the scope of its causes, its effects, its mechanisms of action and production, its purposes and its uses. This article aims at drawing up a general description of scientific studies dealing with humour carried out in the context of the nurse-patient communication and at making an analysis of it from the fixed theory of Strauss and Corbin (2001) to derive the characteristics, conditions of use and consequences as much in the patient's as in the nurse's. The results obtained prove that humour in care is contextual, situational and spontaneous. There are conditions of use of humour which are connected with the nurse, with the patient, with their relation and with the situation. For the patient and in the nurse-patient relation, humour has psychological consequences. It can be or become a coping mechanism to face stress and improve the quality of communication.