Interprofessional Communication

Communication is key when it comes to working in interprofessional teams and their role as a health care professional. Some of these main concepts include good communication, nonverbal communication, and how to communicate empathy.
A lot of factors play a huge role when it comes to good communication. The first factor is that it gains trust. Trust is something that is important to gain because without it, the patient might not feel comfortable to tell you things. For example, once I had a patient who was really shy. However, over time I got to know her and once she became comfortable enough to tell me things. The one thing that she told me was that she was a huge smoker, something that she denied when I first met her. So this trust that I gained with her, gave me information about herself that was useful when it came to taking care of her. Another factor is that it increases patient satisfaction. I know that this sounds silly, but working as a cashier at CVS
Eye contact, body posture, gesture, facial expressions and voice tone and volume all play a role. For example, when conversing with another member of the interprofessional team, if there is no eye contact, you’re not turned towards them, you shrug to agree with them, your lips are pursed and when you talk you are super loud, then it gives the impression that you don’t care what your colleague is saying. In order to correct that, you must give good eye contact, be turned towards them, nod when you agree with them, smile and talk with your inside voice. These simple nonverbal skills can impact how you communicate. Nonverbal communication is also important when it comes to speaking to a patient you does not speak the same language. For example, if a Spanish speaker comes into the office and you have no idea what they are trying to communicate, you have to look at their body language. You can tell if they are in pain by their postures and