Introduction
To understand why interpersonal communication is important to health, it is important to understand what interpersonal communication is and how communicate effectively. Merriam-Webster defines interpersonal as “relating to or involving relations between people; existing or happening between people.” Communication is defined as “the act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc., to someone.” When combined, interpersonal communication becomes the use of words, sounds, signs, and/or behaviors exchanged between two or more people to share information, ideas, thoughts, and feelings. In the health care industry, interpersonal communication can take place between a health care professional and a patient, or among a group of health care professionals and other health care staff. Communication in this field is very important and is subjected to a number of barriers. Decision-making requires effective interpersonal communication taking place in healthcare organizations to increase efficiency and effectiveness, as well as quality of care.
Effective Communication
Effective communication is imperative for the success in the healthcare field. It has been proven that patient satisfaction and compliance with treatment and the overall health outcomes are improved when the healthcare team and patient communicate well. A patient who understands the information being given to them and believes that their healthcare providers are concerned with their well-being, are more likely to show satisfaction with the care received and compliant with their treatment regimen. This is possible by engaging in a decision-making process that involves not ...
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The goal of this lesson is to explore how we can improve communication to eliminate language barriers between healthcare providers and patients in our organization and to establish culturally and linguistically appropriate goals, that provide safe, equal, and quality care to all our clients regardless of race, ethnic, or socioeconomic status. At the end of this lesson we should be
Goode, T. D., Dunne, M. C., & Bronheim, S. M. (2006). The evidence base for cultural and linguisitc competence in healthcare. The Commonweatlh Fund , 1-46.
There are two ways in which people make decisions in their daily life or at work: Intuitive or rational. If we talk about intuitive decision-making (IDM) we talk about the subjective decisions that are not based on any facts and purely instinctive, for example whether or not to cross the street. These decisions are fast occurring, have no any need for reasoning and are used if facts are unavailable or making a decision is very difficult.
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Understanding that all patients needed to be treated justly and given the opportunity to make decisions in their care is important. Not causing harm and preventing them from harm is also the duty of health care workers. These ethical principles are essential to keep in mind with interdisciplinary communication. Ineffective communication has been associated with medical errors, patient harm, and increase length of stay. Failure to communicate properly has been associated with 79% of sentinel events (Dingley, Daugherty, Derieg & Persing, 2008). Good communication has been shown to improve patient satisfaction, increase in patient safety, as well as a decrease in health care costs (Paget et al.,
The health care provider should ensure that they communicate effectively with the patient/client.
Communication is cited as a contributing factor in 70% of healthcare mistakes, leading to many initiatives across the healthcare settings to improve the way healthcare professionals communicate. (Kohn, 2000.)
Communication encompasses a wide range of processes such as the exchange of information, listening, posing of questions (Fleischer et al., 2009) or use of body language. In a healthcare environment where there are constant interactions among nurses, doctors, patients and other health professionals, professional and effective communication is important in ensuring high quality healthcare standards and meeting the individual needs of patients.
Bentancourt et al. (2005) allows asserts that there are three distinctive reasons why cultural competency is so very important for the American healthcare system. American is composed of a very diverse population, which mean healthcare providers will continual be exposed to treating individuals from various backgrounds and from various cultures; their beliefs regarding their health or healthcare may range widely. When patients have a deficiency in the English language, proper healthcare delivery becomes increasingly more difficult as they will present symptoms in the syntax of their culture and their first language. Also, research shows the communication between the patient and their provider directly correlates to their satisfaction as well as their responsiveness or willingness to follow the health provider medical instructions; this ultimately affects the patient’s health outcome (Bentancourt et al., 2005). It’s fair to say that a successful health outcome is also contingent upon the interaction of the health provider and patient. Reports generated by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) – “Crossing the Quality Chasm and Unequal Treatment, confirms that cultural competence that focuses on the care of patient through
Communication plays a major role in preventing and resolving behavior problems and enhancing your patient’s quality of life by allowing them to feel, even when they no longer know or recognize those around them that they are in the midst of people who care about them and are concerned about their physical and emotional well being.
The more health care professionals collaborate, the more knowledge is used, and patient safety can be maintained. Communication is related to interprofessional collaboration, because health care professionals collaborate with each other about the patient through communicating with each other. “Collaboration among nurses, physicians, and other members of the care team can improve the outcomes of care for patients” (Engel & Prentice, 2013; IOM, 2010).
All people of all nationalities deserve the best care from their healthcare team and health facilities. However, misunderstanding of different languages can put a restraint on the patient care and can sometimes lead to the unnecessary and life-threatening mistake. Currently, my facility has an on-site and
Communication is defined by the American Nurses Association (2013) as reflection in the competencies that embrace effectively communication information and ideas in writing and verbally as well as expressing ideas clearly and concisely and inspiring others. Communication is imperative to human interaction for without it, people cannot relate to those around them, make their needs and concerns known, or make sense of what is happening to them (Casey 2011). Communication in nursing occurs everyday and it plays a crucial role in the management of patients and the quality of care delivered. Because communication occurs with both verbal and non-verbal signals, nurses need to be aware of not just thoughts, opinions, and ideas, but also of feelings, emotions, and non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and touch. Nurses who communicate effectively are better to able to collect assessment data, initiate interventions, evaluate outcome of interventions, initiate change that promotes health, and prevent legal problems associated with nursing practices (Berman et al, 2008, p. 460). Nurses need to be aware of good communication skills and what barriers come along with communication. Communication barriers include distractions, inadequate knowledge, stress, poor planning, differences in perception, emotions, and personality (Berman et al, 2008, p. 471). Good communication includes establishing a clear purpose, actively listening, being compassionate, telling the truth, being flexible, and committing to resolution (Berman et al, 2008, p. 474). Communication is vital to ensure optimal patient care and safety.
Communication plays a crucial, central part to any and all nursing care. It is what develops a relationship between nurse and patient through both verbal and non-verbal interactions. Communication is included in the NMBA's competency standards because of its high level of importance to effective nursing care. Without therapeutic communication nurses would be unable to discover important and often crucial information about patients. Therefore effective interpersonal communication is what drives nursing care and decisions made about patients and their individual care plans. There are many different skills needed and available to nurses to communicate with their patients in the best way possible. In order to communicating appropriately with patients
An employee does an unsatisfactory job on an assigned project. Explain the attribution process that this person's manager will use to form judgments about this employee's job performance.