1806NRS Communicating Effectively

Effective communication is a process that helps to establish a relationship between nurses and patients. Good communication includes approaching the patient for better interaction which will help understand the patient's opinion, concern, experiences and needs. (Bach & Grant, 2015).  According to standard 2 of Nursing, it is important for a registered nurse to effectively communicate in healthcare.  (Cashin et al., 2015). Therapeutic communication involves open-ended questions and statements along with silence that will help the patient to identify the issues. In this paper, a discussion will be made regarding the importance of effective communication in the nursing profession. Few verbal strategies are also described that will help the registered nurses in establishing a therapeutic relationship with the patient. The behaviours that hamper the interaction are highlighted in the paper.  In the end, a conclusion will be drawn that will help to summarize the whole topic. For providing quality care to the patient, it is always beneficial to interact with the patient as it will increase the information sharing process between the nurses and the patients.

It is important for Registered Nurses (RNs) to communicate effectively in healthcare settings. Studies show that communication contributes to providing good care to the patients. Through communication, the nurses will be able to understand the unique challenges and concerns related to the patient. (Bach & Grant, 2015). Identifying the needs of the patient will help the nurse to advocate on behalf of the patient. Nurses advocate fills the gap between patient, healthcare staff and the system. (Bach & Grant, 2015). The patient will be able to convey their fear and concern to the nurse, which will help the nurse to make a correct nursing diagnosis. Nurses will be able to identify the concerns and help the patient to alleviate fear. They will thus recommend the treatment plan effectively. Communication helps in providing health literacy to the patients. Through health literacy, the patients will be able to understand the healthcare information and basic services.

Communication will help in providing both personal and organizational health literacy. (Grant & Goodman, 2018). The nurses will use the information for making decisions and taking actions on behalf of the patient. Failing to communicate effectively will result in dissatisfaction of the patient, and the patient might lose trust in the healthcare settings. For mental health patient, it is important that they are supported emotionally. (Hunter et al., 2015). They need someone to listen to their pain and sufferings. Through effective communication, the nurses provide support to the patients. The nurses will record the information and, in turn, provide other information for improving their health literacy. Nurses will be able to give advice along with treatment for the promotion of health. Through communication, the nurses bring changes in the healthcare through listening, speaking and negotiating, which will promote the well-being of the patient. Communication helps in building therapeutic relationships with the patient, which is an important step in the process of recovery. (Grant & Goodman, 2018).   After the formation of the relationship, the patient will be more inclined towards opening up emotionally, and he/she will provide more details about his/her concern, which will give the nurses chance to better comprehend the patent's view, motives and feeling.  For a productive relationship, trust is the key. If the patient does not trust the therapist, chances are he/she won't open up to them. And a registered nurse should have the capacity to interact with the patient for better understanding the patients. Effective communication requires understanding the patient and their experiences. It thus requires the sincere attention and skills of the nurses for understanding the patient. Understanding the patient is not sufficient until the nurse conveys the message that the patient is understandable. The nurses can thus effectively address the progress of mental health patients. (Townsend & Morgan, 2017).   Understanding the social determinants of health can be achieved through communication. The social determinants- environment, physical and social conditions can have an adverse effect on a patient's health. Communication thus helps to identify them, which will greatly increase the well-being of the patient.

Verbal communication strategies involve the leading strategy named patient teach-back strategy. Through this strategy, the nurses will ask the patient for repeating the information related to health in their own words. (Peter et al., 2015). It will help the patient in synthesizing the information and will confirm if the patient has understood the exchange or not. This strategy is not a judgement on the patient. (Morony et al., 2018). It will help the nurses to understand the patient in a better way. The other strategy includes focusing on the health issue rather than on the patient. It is always advisable to not take everything personally. During verbal communication, the patient might hurt the nurses emotionally, which can hamper the interaction. (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014).  Solving the problem should be the main concern instead of attempting to control others. The third strategy is using affirming responses. If the patient is trusting a nurse to the extent of sharing all his/her personal problems, then the nurse should also respond to the same by acknowledging the patient's experiences. (Bach & Grant, 2015).  Assuring the patients that they are being heard by asking questions like "what happened next?" will build confidence among the patients. They will thus be able to share more information without being feared of getting judged. Asking questions and providing positive feedbacks can help the nurses to interact efficiently, and the patients will be able to communicate efficiently. During nurse-patient conversations, choosing the language that is simple and understandable are important. Using technical terms that are not understandable to the patient might result in halting the interaction. The patient might get ashamed of their lack of understanding and hesitate to ask the nurses to explain. Transparency is important, and it can't be achieved when the patient does not understand the language.

Non-verbal communication is referred to as communicating in a silent way with the patient. The function of non-verbal communication includes complementation, substitution, and regulation of verbal messages. (Burgoon Guerrero & Manusov, 2016).  The two important non-verbal behaviour are eye contact and time. In communication episode, it is always important that while the patient is saying something, he/she must not be interrupted as this will result in their unwillingness to express themselves. However  patient might feel that they are being ignored by the nurses if the nurses do not show any signs of affirmation, which will eventually hinder the communication. (Rusu & Chiriță, 2017). Not maintaining eye contact with the patient will make them feel that the nurses are not interested in listening to the patients. the patient should have the positive feeling that whether the interaction is of 5 minute or an hour, the time is entirely his. (Rusu & Chiriță, 2017).  Not maintaining eye contact will make them feel that the nurse is not dedicated to the interaction or lost in her own thought. This might result in the patient being uncomfortable, and the patient might become anxious. The patient needs affirmation while talking. They need to be assured that someone is listening to what they are saying. Not maintaining eye contact results in the patient getting distracted, thus hindering communication. (Rusu & Chiriță, 2017).  Another behaviour includes not giving the patient enough time to express themselves. Too many questions at a go without giving enough time to reciprocate might make the patient unwilling to share their actual experiences. (Martin & Chanda, 2016). Thus the nurses might miss out on certain important points that are important for effective treatment and diagnosis. The patient that is mentally challenged need time to respond, they might need more time to answer the questions than others.  (Martin & Chanda, 2016). Also, asking lots of question can make the patient conscious and fearful. This is not a sign of good communication skills. Giving the patient more time will not only influence the patient to express more but also help them to connect with the nurses by asking questions in return.

Communication between a patient and a nurse is not just an exchange of words but far beyond that. Communication skills enhance the healthcare organization and help in providing quality care to the patients. Effective communication needs verbal strategies and the elimination of non-verbal behaviours that hamper the interaction. Using simple language, tech-back techniques, and affirming responses will generate a trustful relation between the nurses and the patient. Focusing on the health issues instead of being judgemental will help in establishing therapeutic relationships with the patients. However, there are certain non-verbal behaviours that might result in creating a barrier between the nurses and the patients. Avoiding eye contact and not giving the patient enough time to respond will result in hampering the interaction. The therapeutic relation might get influenced in a  negative way.  Thus it is always advisable to give enough training to the nurses to develop their communication skills. Improved communication skills will help in communicating with the patient in an effective way. This will result in a better understanding of the patient and their early recovery and enhance the health of the patient as well as their surroundings.

References

Bach, S., & Grant, A. (2015). Communication and interpersonal skills in nursing. Learning Matters.

Burgoon, J. K., Guerrero, L. K., & Manusov, V. (2016). Nonverbal communication. Routledge.

Cashin, A., Buckley, T., Donoghue, J., Heartfield, M., Bryce, J., Cox, D., ... & Dunn, S. V. (2015). Development of the nurse practitioner standards for practice Australia. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 16(1-2), 27-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527154415584233

Grant, A., & Goodman, B. (2018). Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Nursing. Learning Matters.

Hunter, L., Weber, T., Shattell, M., & Harris, B. A. (2015). Nursing students' attitudes about psychiatric mental health nursing. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 36(1), 29-34.

Kourkouta, L., & Papathanasiou, I. V. (2014). Communication in nursing practice. Materia socio-medica, 26(1), 65–67. https://doi.org/10.5455/msm.2014.26.65-67

Martin, C. T., & Chanda, N. (2016). Mental health clinical simulation: therapeutic communication. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 12(6), 209-214. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876139916000256

Morony, S., Weir, K., Duncan, G., Biggs, J., Nutbeam, D., & Mccaffery, K. J. (2018). Enhancing communication skills for telehealth: development and implementation of a Teach-Back intervention for a national maternal and child health helpline in Australia. BMC health services research, 18(1), 1-9. https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-018-2956-6

Peter, D., Robinson, P., Jordan, M., Lawrence, S., Casey, K., & Salas-Lopez, D. (2015). Reducing readmissions using teach-back: enhancing patient and family education. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(1), 35-42. 

Rusu, O., & Chiriță, M. (2017). Verbal, non-verbal and paraverbal skills in the patient-kinetotherapist relationship. Timisoara Physical Education & Rehabilitation Journal, 10(19). http://tperj.uvt.ro/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/BV10IS19A7.pdf

Townsend, M. C., & Morgan, K. I. (2017). Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of care in evidence-based practice. FA Davis.

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