Introduction:
Communication skills are one of the most important qualities required for health professionals in assisting and developing a therapeutic and trusting relationship with patients. This ensures that patients are able to comfortably voice their concerns and allows for healthcare professionals to reach out to their patients on both a clinical and emotional level. This essay aims to explore empathy and active listening, two major components of effective communication when providing unfortunate news relating to limited and expensive treatment options which can assist to deliver the best quality care to the client.
Communication Skill 1: Active listening
Active listening encompasses the verbal rapport between one person and another in
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Once the patient has opened up about any of their concerns, the healthcare practitioner should question them in a simple and non-interrogative manner.2 This will definitely put the patient at comfort and should allow them to intricate on their condition and opinions on specific treatment choices. The consequence of this is, that patients are susceptible to voice their clinical experiences in an optimistic way, thus confronting the stigma that interacting with healthcare professionals is frequently stressful and distressing. Essentially, a healthcare professional should probe questions surrounding the patient's symptoms in order to thoroughly certify the patient during an appointment.4 They must aim to ask simple questions in a subtle and delicate manner to ensure that the patient does not feel disturbed or …show more content…
With empathy and heart, health professionals can help make patients feel good, valued and respected; also, empathy allows for patients to feel engaged and empowered thereby taking charge of their health and well-being. A healthcare professional can also express their empathy via actions, such as having a good posture when sitting, distance sustained between the healthcare practitioner and the patient and attentive body language, which include adequate eye contact.9 It is vital that a healthcare professional is mindful of the influence of non-verbal communication and as such, must be careful of their portrayal of body language. Fundamentally a balance should be attained as a healthcare practitioner must proportionally use verbal and non-verbal skills in a way to empathise with their
“A healthcare provider’s bedside manner encompasses their medical knowledge, personality, and ability to understand the patient and communicate their concern for them.” (Britt). Although some individuals don’t see the importance of communication and emotional connection with patients in the medical field, doctors who have problems properly interacting with their patients will have a lower chance of success in healing them. Doctors receive so much education but are never taught proper bedside manners, which is the way that physicians interact with patients. In order to ensure a patient’s comfort, psychological well-being, and physical health, a physician must truly understand their patient.
Effective communication between patient and clinician is an important aspect to patient care. Proper communication has a direct positive impact on patient care and adversely poor communication has a direct negative impact on patient care. I will define the seven principles of patient-clinician communication and how I apply these communications with my patients. I will also describe the three methods currently being used to improve interdisciplinary communication and the one method that my area of practice currently uses. Then, I will explain the ethical principles that can be applied to issues in patient-clinician communication. And Lastly, the importance of ethics in communication and how patient safety is influenced by good or bad team communication.
The lack of communication between patient and physician is a difficulty that this group experiences. The patient may be in denial, angry, and or frustrated and may not be able to communicate their feelings to the physician. It is important that the physician and team be aware of the body language. The physician needs to take the time to listen, and ask open-ended questions so the patient can reveal what is going on with them. Being supportive, sensitive, and nice will go a long way with this
Empathy is an important concept in nursing because it enables nurses to relate to patient’s experiences and recognize their feelings (Mercer & Reynolds, 2012). Empathy and compassion encourages patients to share personal thoughts or feelings and helps them feel relaxed and secure (Doherty & Thompson, 2014). In regards to patients’ own definition of quality of care, empathy appears to be a key factor in primary care (Mercer & Reynolds, 2012). According to the Nursing Best Practice Guideline recommendations, empathy falls under a requisite capacity for establishing therapeutic relationships (RNAO, 2017). The professionals say, “empathy is the ability of the nurse to enter into the client’s relational world, to see and feel the world as the client sees and feels it, and to explore the meaning it has for the client” (RNAO, 2002, para 21). Empathy refers to understanding and expressing what the client’s health care experience entails from the client’s perspective (CNO, 2009). Critical components include validating and resonating with the meaning of that experience (CNO, 2009). The nurse-patient relationship is dynamic and interactive and it is within this dynamic interplay that empathy exists (Maruca et al., 2015). Taking part in a therapeutic relationship directly impacts patient care which leads to positive patient outcomes and accurate diagnosis (Doherty & Thompson, 2014). Empathetic relationships entail understanding the perceptions and needs of the patient, empowering the patient to learn and cope more effectively, and reducing or resolving the patient’s problems (Mercer & Reynolds, 2012). Not only does a strong therapeutic relationship improve patient care but it also contributes to the health professional’s satisfaction and sense of accomplishment (Ozcan, Oflaz & Bakir, 2012). Moreover, empathy strengthens the
Listening and communication with all parties involved in the care of a patient is the first step in providing the care our patients need. This is not only speaking with professionals involved, but with the patient and their families. When we open up the line of communication it allows the
A vital aspect of interpersonal communication is the style in which one listens. While every individual possesses their own preferred method of listening in communication, it can be enlightening to analyze our own strengths and weaknesses so as to maximize effectual communication. Within the confines of four main listening style categories, I have chosen those which best describe my own personal listening style.
Rapport and empathy are two essential skills for communication in health services. In this integrative essay, it is displayed how rapport and empathy play an important role for communication in health services, such as counselling and psychotherapy. Empathy helps building rapport with the client. Both skills are needed in counselling, because once the client has found trust in the counsellor there is a bigger chance of them opening up about their feelings. If a client has a good rapport with the counsellor, they are less likely to discontinue the sessions. A five minute non-scripted video is included with this essay and will be referred back to, while describing and discussing rapport building and empathic listening. The video’s content is a first interview with a client, where the client tells the counsellor about a troubling issue. At the end a self-reflection is included, which will reflect upon the video, the challenges faced and future improvements for personal improvement upon communication skills.
Interpersonal communication within the field of nursing is imperative in all areas to deliver a holistic positive outcome in patient care. Specifically, active listening, questioning with intent and reflective feedback ascertain an understanding of a patient’s health, illness, and healthcare. Active listening allows the patient to convey their concerns and presents the nurse with an understanding of the patient when implementing a personalised care plan. Questioning with intent builds an appreciation of the situation, and reflective feedback promotes improvements to enrich work ethics of the nursing cohort. Listening actively involves many different styles whereby information is gathered through verbal and non-verbal communication. Questioning
Stress, anxiety, and vulnerability can be present in both parties at the first encounter. It is important for the doctor to be in a state that is gathered, calm, attentive, and ready to receive information. The ability to create an environment of trust, respect, and security where the patient can adequately share health conditions, concerns, and goals is a skill that doctors should develop precisely. The doctor-patient relationship is important because it has a statistically significantly outcome on the patients’ prognosis (Kelley, et al., 2014).
The health-care provider should always be prepared to go that extra mile when it comes to meeting the patient’s needs. It is also important that when you are approaching someone that you are aware of the body language that you are expressing. Many cues to quality are related to poor use of language and nonverbal snubs, such as hospital employees avoiding eye contact with visitors in the hospital and acting like they are not important. It is easy to not realize the language you are expressing by the way you are holding yourself. A smile goes a long way to make a patient and visitors feel welcome and
Introduction: A healthcare professionals ability to effectively communicate is essential towards the delivery of high-quality health care and maintenance of patient satisfaction.1 Latest study has shown that an established relationship with a patient facilitates an accurate diagnosis and an ease of giving therapeutic instructions1. As such, strong communication skills are important whilst approaching a client who is experiencing a lot of pain and is distressed about a treatment. Thus, by exhibiting empathy and understanding towards a client’s situation whilst building rapport are two communication skills that health professionals will need to ensure effective care.
The ability to listen effectively significantly impacts all relationships, be it professional, personal or social. The prevailing issue with effective listening, however, is two-fold, in not truly understanding the meaning of listening and not possessing the tools required to be an effective listener. The skill of listening, according to Dr. Robert Bolton (1979), extends beyond simply hearing sound as a physiological sensory process but instead requires and involves interpreting and understanding the sensory experience or what is being heard (p 32). It also is an active experience wherein the listener is fully engaged and has absorbed the information of the speaker while showing interest and providing feedback, all while demonstrating that they have heard and understand the message. It is a fair assertion that most people in varying relationships and environments listen in what is considered passive capacity, or only digest and process bits and pieces of the speaker’s message.
In applying the skills to a case scenario, I found it difficult to focus and use my active listening skills. I do know that in an ideal situation, I will more than likely be one on one with my client and will generally conduct the interview in a quieter atmosphere, allowing me to focus better on what the client discloses. However, with continuous practice I believe I will be able to overcome becoming distracted by background noises.
To be effective listeners, the listening process should be incorporated into our lives. We should be attentive to what people say, clarify what the speaker is trying to come across, and respond in a way the speaker can understand what we are saying. I think I was aware that I needed some improvement in certain areas of this process but I feel as everything is slowly changing. In the future, I’m going try not to interrupt people, get distracted, tune out, and try to get a bigger picture of what the person is telling me. If good listening habits are applied in our day-to-day life, we can easily communicate with anyone and everyone.
A skill, according the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, is a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability. The skill of listening is a skill that I believe everyone should have but most people lack. Many people do not realize that listening is not merely the act of hearing a sound but of paying close attention to what someone is saying and trying to understand the message that they are trying to relate to you. Most times people say they are listening when in all actuality they are merely hearing you but not even attempting to understand what is being spoken of. The advantages of being a good listener are vast. This skill can positively affect many parts of our everyday life and interaction with people. Nevertheless, it is a skilled that is overlooked in today’s unmindful society. The reason I believe that listening is of such importance is because nowadays people have developed the mentality of “every man for himself.” People are not concerned about their fellows anymore. We are only concerned about our own issues and problems. Listening is a skill that is acquired throughout a lifetime. It is an important virtue when it comes to communication.People should be taught from childhood the importance of learning how to listen. If we realized how much we would benefit from being good listeners, I believe that things would change. Lack of listening skills affects marriages, parents and children, teachers and students, employers and employees, foreign affairs, and the list goes on.