According to Julia Wood (2004), “communication is a systemic process in which individuals interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings. However, Sheppard (1993) suggests that, in the nurse–patient relationship, communication involves more than the transmission of information; it also involves transmitting feelings, recognizing these feelings and letting the patient know that their feelings have been recognized (M, 1993)”. It is a two way process. The patient conveys their fears and concerns to their nurse and helps them make a correct nursing diagnosis. An excellent communication skill between nurses and patients is essential for the successful outcome of individualized nursing care of each patient. The ability to communicate …show more content…
She must understand the doctor's instructions and the patient's concerns. Her communications skills focus on both giving and receiving information as well as creating an environment of confidence. Some consequences of ineffective communication can be chaos, confusion, disorder, fear, conflict, inefficient systems, and wasted resources (Vertino, 2014). An ineffective communication can lead to errors in patient’s misdiagnosis and even medication on admission, during hospital stay, and after discharge, and whether these errors were potentially harmful. Medication use is potentially dangerous. Polypharmacy is increasing, and makes it harder to keep track of side effects and interactions and of potentially inappropriate drug combinations. “The risk of serious consequences, hospitalization, and death due to medication errors increases with patients’ age and number of medications (Scand J Prim Health Care, 2012)”. For example, the GP is supposed to monitor the patient's regular medication, but does not always do so. Lack of monitoring and keeping track of patients’ medication use is a main cause when a patient is given inappropriate drugs. When the nurse fails to communicate successfully with patients, it costs. It costs in unnecessary pain, in avoidable deaths, in poor health outcomes and in the prolongation of …show more content…
A therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is defined as a helping relationship that's based on mutual trust and respect, the nurturing of faith and hope, being sensitive to self and others, and assisting with the gratification of your patient's physical, emotional, and spiritual needs through your knowledge and skill (Pullen & Tabatha, 2010). This caring relationship develops when you and your patient come together in the moment, which results in harmony and healing. The five components of the nurse-client relationship are trust, respect, professional intimacy, empathy and power. To establish a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship, a nurse must master a few key components, including trust and respect. As a nurse, you should introduce yourself to your patients and refer to the patient by name. These seemingly small gestures display an air of friendliness, caring, and approachability, which can go a long way toward making a patient feel safe. When you maintain eye contact with a patient, you continue to foster trust and respect as your relationship progresses. It's also important to respect a patient's boundaries. Some patients feel comforted when their hand is held or they are offered a hug, while other patients may find these actions uncomfortable. Always respect differences in personality and cultures. Showing a genuine interest in the patient's life and
Communication in the operating room is very important. If surgeons and nurses are not communicating effectively it can directly affect the quality of patient care and safety. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, which estimated the fifth leading cause of death in hospitals in the United States was due to health care errors (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, Freida, 2016). To help reduce these errors, effective communication needs to be exercised throughout health care.
Finally, it will explain the importance of ethics in communication and how patient safety is influenced by good or bad team communication. The first method of communication is mutual respect. The patient and clinician have a partnership based on trust. The patient has respect for the clinician 's experience and the clinician has respect for the patient 's wishes, needs, concerns and builds on past experience to meet immediate needs. (Paget, 2011).
The patients I have worked with have become my greatest teachers. I can’t sit down and flip to a chapter in a textbook that would teach me how to listen to a patient and let their unique history paint the picture of their present illness. A physician that I shadowed told me something that has since resonated with me. She told me how every patient has a story, and you always need to listen carefully because these stories aren’t pointless, they often can lead to your diagnosis. I personally believe the most important member of the care team is the patient; without communicating with the patient there is no chance to obtain crucial insight as to the illness that is presented to you.
Kindness and thankfulness are appreciated, but you have to be careful with eye contact and touching of the patient. With male patients touching with a handshake is important, but with women you should wait for them to extend their hand first. Eye contact varies with the patient. Some see prolonged eye contact as a sign of being impolite. Most importantly lengthy indirect discussion of a condition is not preferred, but the method of direct action oriented approach is
A patient and nurse interact and communicate and form an interpersonal system that is affected by situational factors in the environment (Alligood, 2013). Alligood (2013) also identifies the fundamental concepts of this theory as: perception, communication, interaction, transaction, self, role, growth and development, stress/stressors, coping, time, and personal space. These come from the personal and interpersonal system concepts. While the personal and social systems effect patient outcomes, the system that seems to have the biggest influence on this is the interpersonal system.
The requirement for excellent skills of communication in healthcare is paramount in delivering optimal care and in facilitating health promotion. Good communication ultimately leads to increased patient satisfaction and is one of the key elements in providing patient centred care. Conversely, it is inevitable that patients will become distressed with health conditions when skills of communication are mediocre (Reynolds, 2004). Furthermore it must be recognised that effective communication extends beyond client and clinician and also includes carers of elderly patients whom may be involved in joint decision making. Hence the importance of the integration of the carer into the multi-disciplinary team.
According to Patterson & Krouse (2015), It is important to transfer the message in a good way, for that the communication skills is one of the most important basic skills of nursing leadership. More than that, communication in nursing can make their job efficiently and help them to communicate with a wide range of people, including the patient, patient 's family, and healthcare providers. However, unlike bad communication, which increases nursing staff problem and can lead to worsening the patient health condition, a good communication saves time and reduces the problem of nursing staff in resaving and deliver the right information. Furthermore, communication is not only talking with the patient it’s also listening to what the patient 's family and healthcare providers are saying to collect more information that helps the nurses to save lives. In this paper, I will reflect my communication that goes well with one patient.
Safe practices and effective, patient-centered communication is key to quality care. Good communication is not only an ethical mandate but also necessary for informed consent and effective patient engagement. It is an effective approach to avoid errors, improve quality and achieve better and safer health outcomes. The ultimate objective of any Doctor-Patient communication is to avoid patient harm and improve the patient's health and
Communication is a crucial part of being an effective nurse. As nurses we are constantly changing from one form of communication to another, whether it be verbal, non-verbal or written. As a group oriented profession, nurses must acquire good interpersonal communication for effective continuity and productivity (Marquis & Huston, 2015). The SBAR is a verbal communication tool that I used in the NICU during shift change to convey a precise and clear report to the oncoming nurse. The SBAR is broken down into Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendations for the patient.
By just showing that little bit of love and compassion towards someone, shows you are there for them throughout their journey. I personally feel when working with someone, you grow a tight bond that you nor your patient will ever forget. You’re the person who comes in that room every day, administer their medicine, and gives them the comfort they need. Their lives are in your hands, so make every word and action count because you never know when their last breath will be. Being a nurse is very challenging and comes with everyday obstacles.
Studies conducted during the past three decades show that the clinician’s ability to explain, listen and empathize can have a profound effect on biological and functional health outcomes as well as patient satisfaction and experience of care. Further, communication among healthcare team members influences the quality of working relationships, job satisfaction and has a profound impact on patient
The author highlights how vulnerable patients will give their trust to nurses, they should begin their relationship with a rapport (Price, 2017). “Patients often feel vulnerable and there can be an imbalance of power between the nurse and the patient; similarly, patients who are receiving treatment in hospital can find themselves in an unfamiliar environment” (Price, 2017). In this situation the client was degraded, there was an imbalance of power. The client had an unfamiliar caregiver, creating confusion and anxiety. To create a therapeutic relationship trust must be created, it requires effective communication, honesty, and respect.
As a medical professional, it is imperative to know how and when to talk to a patient. It is crucial to be sensitive, honest, and open (Cohn, 2010). When providing care, a person must be compassionate, but also understand when not to cross a line. For instance, if a patient requests to wait until their family has arrived to hear test results, their request must be considered. But at the same time, it is also important to make sure that waiting for family to arrive would not put the patient’s life in jeopardy.
Patient empowerment The idea of patient empowerment originated from the critical social theory when patients are seen as an oppressed group (Kuokkanen & Leino-Kilipi, 2000), and was built upon an assumption that each person has the potential to become empowered (Ellis-Stoll & Popkess-Vawter, 1998). Starting from the mid-1980s till nowadays, the World Health Organization defined health promotion as “a process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their own health”. This movement of patient-centered care rendered a paradigm shift into therapeutic nurse-patient relationship. Based upon equality and mutual respect, Ellis-Stoll & Popkess-Vawter (1998) stated that patients are seen to be an active participant in the relationship
Health care professionals offer psychotherapy for the patients. For those who stay in the hospital, their relationship with the health professionals is an important thing to consider (Haron and Tran, 2014). During hospitalization, the patients expect support from the hospital staff more than their family (Haron and Tran, 2014). Phatic and Empathic Communication