Introduction. The priority of modern nursing care is to treat a hospitalised patient in a holistic manner. Human relationships in nursing care should take into account the subjectivity of an elderly patient, and the care should be individualised. Primary sources feature many aspects of interpersonal communication; there are no specific topics related to styles of communication between a nurse and an elderly patient. Aim. The aim of this paper was to show the communication styles most commonly used by nurses in relationships with 60+ hospitalised patients. The paper was extended by observations of elderly patients’ responses to the communication styles used. Material and methods. Studies were carried out in March 2018 at several hospital departments in the Lubuskie Province. The study method involved observations of the relationships and communication styles used by nurses during their daily activities. 20 patients in need of various nursing care types were observed. Results. It was found that egocentric (considered not to be partnership-based) was the most common communication style used by nurses, (14 observations), The authoritarian style was noticed in 2 cases, patronising – in 3 cases, dismissive – in 5 cases, and aggressive – in 4 cases. Activities were sometimes performed on patients without any verbal communication. Conclusions. 1) Nurses use the egocentric not partnership-based communication style while performing their care activities. 2) The egocentric not partnership-based communication style is used in relationships with a patient dependent on the nursing care who has been included in patient classification class 3. 3) Nurses use the partnership-based style in respect of the patients requiring least care included in patient classification classes 1 and 2 while performing their treatment activities. 4) Nurses do not use the allocentric not partnership-based style when performing their treatment and care activities. 5) Studies demonstrate that the observation method should be extended to include a wider group of nurses and patients.

Key words: nurse, elderly person, relationships, communication style.