Importance Of Therapeutic Communication

When many of us think of communication, we immediately think of two or more people who get together to simply talk. Yes, talking is a vital step to the ladder of communication, yet there are a few other characteristics to keep in mind. According to the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (2011), specifically, “Therapeutic communication is defined as the face-to-face process of interacting that focuses on advancing the physical and emotional well-being of a patient.” In addition, “Therapeutic communication is designed to help your client reach a better understanding of her condition and treatment, encouraging her to express her feelings and discuss her ideas, while showing respect and an acceptance of her point of view” (Evesham,
Fortunately, as I mentioned before, her daughter served as her translator for proper communication between the patient and her health care providers. However, my particular challenging communication interaction occurred one day when her daughter was away from the facility at work. It came time for me to transfer this patient out of bed, into her wheelchair and down the hall to the therapy gym. Frantically, I looked left and right down the halls, searching for a nearby staff member to assist in not only transferring the patient safely, but also to communicate with her effectively. To my dismay, I was unable to find anyone at the time. I went back into the room to do my best at interpreting certain words that she was saying to me. Reluctantly, I remembered a few basic words from the Spanish courses that I had taken in high school. Again, I made sure to abide by her cultural attributes, such as making eye contact and listening carefully, to the best of my ability. According to Tamparo and Lindh (2008), in the Hispanic culture “showing respect by using direct eye contact is recommended to obtain cooperation in treatment” (pg. 42). Although I had the proper eye contact, I was struggling to comprehend the needs that my patient was attempting to express to me. In this case, our communication was not complete, clear, concise, nor cohesive. As a result, I slowly began to offer random Spanish phrases that I had remembered in order to get my point across. In addition, I extended hand gestures along with pointing directly to the wheelchair, indicating to her that we were going to safely transfer over into it. Finally, after about 15 minutes, she was able to understand me enough to the point where we were able to move forward with a safe and successful transfer, in spite of my