Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe nonverbal behaviors of nurses in communication with patients with dementia in an elderly care institution in Korea. Methods: Conversation analysis was utilized to analyze the data which were collected using video camera to capture non-verbal as well as verbal behaviors. A total of 66 episodes of everyday conversations were analyzed using seven nonverbal categories: affirmative head nodding; illustrative gestures; patient-directed eye gaze; smiling and/or laughing; forward leaning; affective touch; and instrumental touch. Results: Among seven categories, patient-directed eye gaze(94%) was the most frequently utilized among nurses followed by affirmative head nodding(67%) and forward leaning(67%), while smiling was the least used(32%). Affective touch was identified in 39 episodes(59%). Among them, the most frequently touched area was hand or handshaking(59%) followed by shoulder or back, arm, and face. There were wide differences among nurses in terms of using affective touch, ranging from 0% to 98%. Nonverbal behaviors were more frequently identified in effective episodes than in ineffective episodes. Conclusion: Actively utilizing effective nonverbal behaviors may help geriatric nurses in promoting communication and in establishing rapport with patients with dementia.