HCS 350: Personal And Professional Health Care Communication

Personal and Professional Health Care Communication
Jessica Anderson
HCS/350
March 11, 2012
Maria Smith

Personal and Professional Health Care Communication
Communication is the basic method that people use to exchange information and messages. The information is exchanged every day in our personal and work lives. We talk with our neighbors, our family members, friends, school instructors, bosses, colleagues, and clients. The communication can have many forms: verbal, non-verbal or written. The sender of the messages and the receiver must have some common understanding for the information to be understood and have an effect. This paper will discuss the health care communication with other health professionals and clients,
The goal of this relationship is not only to gather and give information but also is to promote healing and recovery of the patient. This is achieved through therapeutic communication which “ is the primary means through which nurse and client exchange information about health matters, plan treatment approaches, reach consensus about treatment decisions, conduct treatment activities, and evaluate clinical outcomes” (Arnold & Boggs, 2011, p. 175). Therapeutic communication has specific characteristics that make it different from social communication. According to Arnold and Boggs (2011) therapeutic communication is time limited, confidential, has defined format and health related purpose. It is client centered, which means it encourages client to express his feelings and ideas regarding his illness, and provides client with information and support need to reach maximum well-being. Therapeutic communication uses verbal and nonverbal strategies to show the interest of the listener and help clients to open up about their feelings. It starts with active listening, when the provider listens to the client and uses open-ended questions, general leads, restating, paraphrasing, acknowledging feelings, and reflection to encourage client to focus and continue expressing his feelings. The use of silence gives participants time to think and highlights important conversation points. Health care
All these providers are different educational level and specialty background. Physicians’ orders, nurses’ hand off reports, reporting of status, delegation of assignments are tasks that involve vital information that needs to be communicated effectively. With so many people collaborating there is a big chance for critical information to be missed or misunderstood. Miscommunication among health care team members affects patients’ safety. Medication errors, missed or wrong treatments and surgeries, missed changes in status can cause serious injuries in patients or even death. “Clinical communication is listed as the main cause of medical mishaps” (Gong & Khairat, 2010, p. 704). According to Gong and Khairat (2010), medical errors also pose a vast financial burden on economy because they lead to prolonged hospitalizations, more medical complications, and lawsuits. Poor communication between clients and their health care providers leads to client’s lose of trust and dissatisfaction. Client is then reluctant to cooperate and follow up with care, which leads to worse outcomes for the