Introduction
In the medical profession, the communication can be a very complex process and the probability of sending and receiving inaccurate information frequently exists. Therefore, it’s important for medical professionals to understand the key features of effective communication process, how to improve the skills and any potential problems that are accompanied with in accurate communication and interpretation of information.
There are three major parts of effective communication and these include the sender, receiver and the message. In the nursing, there is a great deal of information that is send to a large group within a short period of time. To ensure quality coding and encoding of information, a nurse has understand the factors that influence how information is send and interpreted (Sheldon et al, 2006). It’s very important to consider the setting in which the communication process is taking place, the past experience of the patient and the personal perception of both the sender and the receiver of the information. Breakdown of communication may lead to negative outcomes where treatment and medication are missed due to lack of adequate information.
Contextual Factors Which Influence Communication and Relate Theses Factors To Mrs Ozdemir
There are many factors that influence the nurse patient communication. Therefore, for the nurse to successfully empower the patient and accomplish effective communication, he or she needs to be aware and recognize these variety of factors that can either be physical, Social, cultural and emotional.
Among the many factors that influence effective communication language is one of the primary element that determine the efficiency of the diagnosis process. Words are the central components of codes and their significance show a discrepancy among many people, culture, countries and various regions (Jasmine, 2009). Language in the key to quality nurse patient communication and its compatibility between what the health service provider will hear from the patient and he or she will interpret the information. Mrs Ozdemir has a lot of difficulties with articulating in English. This implies that the patient faces various difficulties in articulating to the health service provider. Looking how vital the element of language is in ensuring effective diagnosis, it’s quite evident that her inability of communicate in English might be the major constraint towards approaching the general practitioner for the correct diagnosis.
The patient’s perception is another factor that influence the communication process between the patient and the health service provide. Perception can be termed as the ways in which an individual interprets given events through sensory stimulation. Perception encompasses the thoughts that are driven by the response or the feeling towards a given idea. Perception influences the communication process in that it determines the response of the client during the diagnosis process. Inaccurate perceptions of either the patient or the client will affect the diagnosis process. Self awareness is the key component in understanding an individuals own perception. The perception of Mrs Ozdemir towards her illness being inaccurate will affect the communication process. This is because she perceives her condition and short term. Private and personal and therefore she might not be willing to disclose a lot of information concerning her health status.
Culture also affects the nurse patient communication process. The communication process might be undermined when the sender and the receiver of the information originate from distinct cultures. Culture dictates an individual’s belief and perception to certain ideas. Communication between the nurse and the patient will only be facilitated when the patient feels accepted and treated with respected regardless of the cultural origin. Mrs Ozdemir lives Australia while her country of origin is turkey which is very far. This is quite vivid that there should be some differences between the culture of the people in Australia and those in Turkey. Therefore, it’s with no doubt that her personal beliefs and norms may affect the communication during the diagnosis process.
Attitude is a very vital factor that influences the communication process. This is because attitude sets the mood the nurse patient rapport. Despite the fact that patient is experiencing adverse health condition, the nurse has to keep in mind that he or she uses the correct attitude. A negative attitude either towards the patient or the health service provider undermines the relationship and the communication process. For instance the client is more copertarive and participates in the diagnosis process when the health service provider approaches the given condition in a calm and concerned manner. Since Mrs Ozdeminr views her health condition as private and personal she might be experiencing various issues with attitude towards the general practitioner. For instance she is currently having a negative attitude in that her condition is terminal and therefore the general practitioner might have very little to do since she is currently believing in her drugs.
Interventions the Practice Nurse Could Use To Facilitate Communication with Mrs Ozdemir
For the practice nurse to effectively empower and accomplish communication with the patient, he or she needs to recognize and be aware of the physical, social, emotional and physiological constraints of the patient. Social constraints may include cultural values, religion and socio-economic status: psychological constraints may be such things as the patient’s disability and personality: emotional barriers can be such things as stress while physical constraints may be such things as noise.
It’s important that the practice nurse identifies any barriers to effective communication with the patient. In the cases language was the primary barriers since Mrs. Ozdemir does not speak much of English. The practice nurse should try to implement a solution for this problem such as calling for an interpreter. The practice nurse should strive to establish a conducive environment for communication incase there is not. Mrs Ozdemir has a personal and private problem what she calls water works that is urine incontinence. In order to provide a conducive environment, the nurse needs to find a private setting so as to discuss the matter with the patient. This involves closing the does so when discussing such personal matters. Creating conducive environment also involves asking the visitors of the patient to wait outside, sitting near the patients incase there is time and making an eye contact.
The practice nurse needs to employ active listening skills such as leaning forward to indicate that he or she is listening, maintaining eye contact. The nurse should also avoid doing such things like writing in the patients chart while listening and engaging in other activities that indicate that the nurse is not paying attention to the patients. The biggest percent of communication occurs non-verbally. Therefore the practice nurse needs to pay attention to the body language of the patient, her tone and eye contact (Brunero & Lamont ,2010). Consequently the nurse can also ensure that he or she remains empathetic when communicating with Mrs OZdemir. Empathy represents a central focus and feeling with the patient’s world. Empathy involves maintaining focus on the diagnosis while offering support and understanding to the patient.
To facilitate communication with Mrs Ozdemir the practice nurse should strive to establish trust the nurse will build trust by caring for the patient and showing a genuine interest he making the patient feel accepted. The nurse also needs to be honest with the patient. Trust promotes courage, inner security and confidence therefore making the patient cooperative (Weaver, 2010).
Conclusion
The nurse might have conflicting values, commitment, and lack of values may affect communication thereby leading to failure of accomplishing the patient-nurse rapport.
Good nurse patient communication is vital so as to get the most benefit from the doctor’s visit. Communication is the most essential element to a medical practitioner when diagnosing the patient. Using one communication method does not provide a perfect solution since communication is supposed to match the specific needs of the patient. It’s important for nurses to establish good communication with their patients, since in most cases they interact directly with patient’s during history taking, patient education and providing emotional support. Poor communication skills make the task of nurses very difficult since they deal with patients from various background, levels of education, and diverse medical problems and therefore poses distinct communication issues (Weaver, 2010).
Communication between a nurse and client is an important element of the duties of a nurse and most effective the patient is given a chance to express him or herself. A congruent nurse patient interaction maximizes the voice of the client by eliminating the hierarchical situation between the client and the nurse. This encourages the patient to articulate his her psychosocial problem.
Reference
Ashurst, A & Taylor, S. (2010). Communication, communication, communication. Nursing & Residential Care, 12(3), 140-142. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database.
Brunero, S., & Lamont, S. (2010). The ‘difficult’ nurse-patient relationship: development and evaluation of an e-learning package. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 35(2), 136-146. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database.
Jasmine, T. (2009). The use of effective therapeutic communication skills in nursing practice. Singapore Nursing Journal, 36(1), 35. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Sheldon, L., Barrett, R., & Ellington, L. (2006). Difficult communication in nursing. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 38(2), 141-147. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Weaver, D. (2010). Communication and language needs. Nursing & Residential Care, 12(2), 60-63. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
