Aggressive Communication In Nursing

Effective communication skills are important to any profession, but in nursing, they can make the difference between life and death. Good communication skills are essential for good leadership and management (Catalano, 2015). Nurse leaders will set the tone for their entire department in regards to communicating with each other, with patients and families, and with physicians and any other members of the health care team. This includes everything from sharing progress updates on patients to resolving conflict between coworkers. When nurse managers recognize this, they can use their influence to improve communication throughout the unit. Nurses must be able to help patients understand their medical issues and provide them instructions about

Since they have a great fear of displeasing others, personal rejection, or future retaliation, submissive communicators dismiss their own feelings as being unimportant. When people use submissive communication their rights become violated by others. “Many experts believe that submissive communication patterns are protective mechanisms that help insecure people maintain their self-esteem by avoiding negative criticism and disagreement from others” (Catalano, 2010).
Aggressive communication strongly states the speaker’s legitimate rights and opinions with little concern or respect for the rights and opinions of others. “Aggressive communication is viewed by some psychologist as a protective mechanism that compensates for a person’s own insecurities, and others view it as a form of bullying” (Catalano, 2010). Aggressive communication can be viewed as several different forms, including screaming, sarcasm, rudeness, belittling jokes, and even direct personal insults.
There are three key methods of communication: verbal, paraverbal, and nonverbal. Verbal is written or spoken. Paraverbal is the tone, pitch, volume, and diction used when conveying verbal message. Nonverbal consist of body language, facial expressions, gestures, physical appearance, touch, and personal

There regularly is a degree of overlap between the three styles. Some things people do and say help build communication, but other behaviors or words break communication down. Anything done or stated that affects communication is called a communication blocker. Actions performed and speech that encourage and build communication are called communication builders and are often referred to as therapeutic communication techniques. Some nonverbal communication builders can include: maintaining eye contact, nodding the head, positive facial expressions, and listening empathically. Extremely effective nurse managers never underestimate the importance of listening with empathy and the goal of understanding another point of view. Silence and communicating in a calm soothing tone are paraverbal communication builders. Reflecting feelings and emotions, asking clarifying questions, and asking open-ended questions are examples of verbal communication builders. Charge nurses must overcome the many distractions which create barriers to communication that prevent them from advocating effectively on behalf of the patients and