Communication In Nursing
Communication in Nursing as with all of the medical field is crucial. Nurses have to be intermediaries between doctors and patients. They have to execute what the medical hierarchy expects of them and they must take proper care of the patients. Communication in Nursing involves both non-verbal and verbal communications.
The purpose of communication in Nursing includes establishing a nurse-patient relationship. Some nurses are quite effective at this others are terrible. The welfare of the patient has to be first and foremost in the consideration of nursing. When nurses are tired and overworked their communication skills become very inefficient to say the least. Not to mention an irritable patient can turn off a nurse’s communication also. It is a delicate relationship balance that the nurse who if she is a professional has to consider when communicating with a less then ideal patient. Communication in nursing requires nurse sensitivity when dealing with the sick and dying. Her threshold of tolerance must be high to effectively communicate to get the needs of the patient met, and the treatment the doctor requires executed.
The main consideration in communication in nursing is that a good nurse who can communicate effectively allows for the exchange of information, needs and preferences of the patient between herself and the patient. They can then relay it in a timely fashion to the medical team who is treating the patient. As with all communication skills the goal of communication in nursing should be mutual understanding of a message either being given or received, so proper results ensue as a result of the communicative interaction.
Communication in Nursing follows strict level guidelines:
1. Social/ A nurse’s social interactions are to be what are considered safe, they should not overstep their boundaries into personal interactions with a patient or a doctor. They should be courteous and friendly but try not to become to personally sociable with the patient or the doctor.
2. Their approach is what is considered structured; that is their communication skills involve either interviewing or teaching. When interviewing they are to take the required information needed to do their job done effectively. When teaching; they are to inform the patient and those involved with the patient, what needs to be done in their regimen to help regulate their health needs.
3. Therapeutic/ The nurse is expected to be patient focused for a specific period of time constraints. They have to be purposeful in relation to the patient. This involves setting a context up between the patient and themselves in which care can be provided to the patient. They must have the patients trust to make their communications effective. This way they can convey the information needed to identify, resolve or help the patient adapt to their health situation.
The types of communication in nursing utilized are both verbal and non-verbal skills. They are both oral and written. When a nurse uses either of these skills they need to be clear, simple, to the point and time appropriate so there is no miscommunications. Non-verbal communication in nursing includes body language, gestures facial expression and touch. Touch is very important in nursing. How a nurse touches a patient will either make or break the relationship. Rough or hard touches when a person is suffering or frightened will send a message of disinterest or dislike on the part of the nurse in relation to the patient. It will make the patient feel the nurse has does not care or doesn’t like them. This alone can make the patients condition decline.
The worst thing in communication in nursing is when the nurse does not listen. That is considered negative and harmful behavior. Not listening to a doctor or patient can mean the difference between life and death in a patient’s treatment. They must listen to the patient and what they are saying. It may be crucial no mater how insignificant the nurse thinks it may be. The nurse must convey those thing the patient relays to her to the rest of the health team. I cannot stress enough that those type of communications can make the difference between life and death, whether the nurse considers it to be so or not.
