The Importance Of Attitudes In Nursing

2.1 Attitudes of Doctors and Nurses

Academic excellence alone does not make one a good doctor or a nurse. To be a good health personnel one must have a right attitude, character, commitment, aptitude and above all a heart of service. In the handbook to access HIV/AIDS –related treatment, it was documented that to be an ideal treatment service provider there is a need to have a balance among knowledge, skills and attitudes (Figure 1) 24. There is no doubt that the Ghanaian doctor is well trained but they must know that amidst the immense knowledge, without good communication skills and positive attitude, his/ her work might be futile.

In a research done in Bangladesh on client satisfaction and quality of health care they concluded based on their

Its practice requires not only scientific knowledge, but also interactive, intellectual and technical capabilities and skill 35. This means a composition of knowledge, clinical work and interpersonal communication. The nursing process moreover is achieved through dialogue, interpersonal environment and with definite skill of verbal communication 36

Effective communication requires being considerate to the experiences and expressions of the patient. It also involves skills and concurrently the sincere intention of the nurse to understand what concerns the patient. It is insufficient to only understand the patient but the nurse must also deliver messages in an understandable and acceptable way 14. A few element of effective communication for the nurse include; effective communication through listening, giving patient feedbacks on their concerns and communicating to other staff members on patients concerns and conditions. It is also important to be honest in communication. The nurse should never tell patient they are going to do something for them if they do not intend to, and if they cannot follow through they should explain to the patient why. Secondly, it has been documented that as much as 80% of our communication is non-verbal. There is thus a need to pay attention to our body language, eye contact and tone of voice when addressing patients and families

In a study in primary care, exchanges in which the physician was mainly responding to patient questions and giving information were associated with the highest physician satisfaction. Also it’s been documented that the largest factor in patients’ dissatisfaction is communication breakdown. This together with bad outcome means the patient is more likely to complain and hence lead to more malpractice claims. One USA study noted that in general practice, GPs who had no malpractice claims used more statement of orientation (informing patients about what to expect), laughed and used humor more often and used more facilitative skills (soliciting patients opinion, encouraging patients to speak) 19.

As a nurse, patient communication is crucial. Nurses have more day-to-day contact with the patients than their doctors, so it’s up to the nurses to help patient understand their diagnosis and teach them how to participate in their recovery. Additionally being able to communicate and get the message across clearly for the nurse saves a lot of time and makes the workload a lot easier 14.

Institutes or hospital with workers who have good interpersonal skill have a good reputation. Effective communications in a long run also benefits the health system as a whole by making it more efficient and cost effective. Thus, clients, providers, administrators and