NPCG101: The Role Of Communication In Adult Nursing
Foundations in Nursing Practice NPCG1014
Submission Date: 03/11/2014
Student Number: 23478594
Word Count: 548
The role of Communication in Adult Nursing
Following the publication of the Francis report in 2013, which highlighted many failings within many areas of the healthcare service, these failings were brought to light through an investigation of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS trust but could easily be applied to NHS trusts across the country. As a result of this report and other similar failings, Jane Cummings (Chief Nursing Officer) suggested that within the field of nursing there should be a greater focus on care based practice. The way in which this practice is to be achieved is through the values stated within the 6C’s (Care, Compassion, …show more content…
Competence, Courage, Communication and Commitment). Each of the 6C’s is important in their own right to the core values that should drive the way in which patients are cared for, this essay will be focusing solely on communication and the role it plays within a modern day care environment.
Communication is fundamentally the transfer of information from one party to another, there are several basic stages that any communication can be broken down into, the sender, the message, the receiver and their perception of what was meant by the message. The perception is the key point when looking at how effective any communication has been, this can be influenced by the context of the situation, the manner in which the message was sent (verbal, Non-verbal, visual, etc.) and any barriers or distracting stimuli that may be involved in the situation (Bach and Grant, 2011).
With regards to how good or poor communication can effect a patient’s wellbeing and the quality of their care many organisations have focused upon the communication between health professionals and the patients. For example the Department of Health (2004), The World Health Organization (2000) and the National Health Service Modernisation Agency (2003) all highlight that focusing on that specific area of communication alone help to promote the concepts of best practice, this view is supported by Charlton et al. (2008) who found a great improvement in healthcare out patient outcomes when the patient was put first in all interactions between nurses and patients, this included the patient satisfaction, adherence to treatment options and general patient health.
Whilst it can be argued that patient centred communication is the single most important type with regards to patient health it is also important to note how interpersonal relationship between the professionals in the workplace can have a great impact on the quality of treatment received (Grover, 2005).
There are some generally acknowledged communication skills which are essential some of these are listening, information giving, empathy and in terms of healthcare, support, one way to create more effective communication is to use open ended questions and by being assertive and confident.
The factors mentioned above are all important with regards to improving communication but it is equally important to acknowledge those areas that can create barriers to effective communication and interpersonal relationships. Age, gender, race, prejudices, professional ideologies, context and an individual’s experiences can all impact on communication and need to be taken into account.
When thinking specifically about patient centred care it is important to be aware of mechanical barriers to communication, for example does the patient have full use of their hearing, sight and speech, once identified these issues can be addressed.
References
Charlton, CR, Dearing, KS, Berry, JA and Johnson, MJ (2008) Nurse practitioners’ communication styles and their impact on patient outcomes: an integrated literature review. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 20: 382-8.
Department of Health (DH) (2004) Getting Over the Wall: How the NHS is improving the patient’s experience. London: Department of Health.
Grover, SM (2005) Shaping effective communication skills and therapeutic relationships at work: the foundation of collaboration. American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Journal, 53: 177.
McCabe, C and Timmins, F (2006) Communication Skills for Nursing Practice, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
National Health Service Modernisation Agency (2003) Essence of Care, Guidance and New Communication Benchmarks. London: Department of Health.
Bach S, Grant A (2009) Transforming nursing practice: Communication and interpersonal Skills for nurses. Learning Matters
World Health Organization (2000) World Health Report 2000; Health Systems: Improving performance. Geneva: WHO.
Submission Date: 03/11/2014
Student Number: 23478594
Word Count: 548
The role of Communication in Adult Nursing
Following the publication of the Francis report in 2013, which highlighted many failings within many areas of the healthcare service, these failings were brought to light through an investigation of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS trust but could easily be applied to NHS trusts across the country. As a result of this report and other similar failings, Jane Cummings (Chief Nursing Officer) suggested that within the field of nursing there should be a greater focus on care based practice. The way in which this practice is to be achieved is through the values stated within the 6C’s (Care, Compassion, …show more content…
Competence, Courage, Communication and Commitment). Each of the 6C’s is important in their own right to the core values that should drive the way in which patients are cared for, this essay will be focusing solely on communication and the role it plays within a modern day care environment.
Communication is fundamentally the transfer of information from one party to another, there are several basic stages that any communication can be broken down into, the sender, the message, the receiver and their perception of what was meant by the message. The perception is the key point when looking at how effective any communication has been, this can be influenced by the context of the situation, the manner in which the message was sent (verbal, Non-verbal, visual, etc.) and any barriers or distracting stimuli that may be involved in the situation (Bach and Grant, 2011).
With regards to how good or poor communication can effect a patient’s wellbeing and the quality of their care many organisations have focused upon the communication between health professionals and the patients. For example the Department of Health (2004), The World Health Organization (2000) and the National Health Service Modernisation Agency (2003) all highlight that focusing on that specific area of communication alone help to promote the concepts of best practice, this view is supported by Charlton et al. (2008) who found a great improvement in healthcare out patient outcomes when the patient was put first in all interactions between nurses and patients, this included the patient satisfaction, adherence to treatment options and general patient health.
Whilst it can be argued that patient centred communication is the single most important type with regards to patient health it is also important to note how interpersonal relationship between the professionals in the workplace can have a great impact on the quality of treatment received (Grover, 2005).
There are some generally acknowledged communication skills which are essential some of these are listening, information giving, empathy and in terms of healthcare, support, one way to create more effective communication is to use open ended questions and by being assertive and confident.
The factors mentioned above are all important with regards to improving communication but it is equally important to acknowledge those areas that can create barriers to effective communication and interpersonal relationships. Age, gender, race, prejudices, professional ideologies, context and an individual’s experiences can all impact on communication and need to be taken into account.
When thinking specifically about patient centred care it is important to be aware of mechanical barriers to communication, for example does the patient have full use of their hearing, sight and speech, once identified these issues can be addressed.
References
Charlton, CR, Dearing, KS, Berry, JA and Johnson, MJ (2008) Nurse practitioners’ communication styles and their impact on patient outcomes: an integrated literature review. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 20: 382-8.
Department of Health (DH) (2004) Getting Over the Wall: How the NHS is improving the patient’s experience. London: Department of Health.
Grover, SM (2005) Shaping effective communication skills and therapeutic relationships at work: the foundation of collaboration. American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Journal, 53: 177.
McCabe, C and Timmins, F (2006) Communication Skills for Nursing Practice, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
National Health Service Modernisation Agency (2003) Essence of Care, Guidance and New Communication Benchmarks. London: Department of Health.
Bach S, Grant A (2009) Transforming nursing practice: Communication and interpersonal Skills for nurses. Learning Matters
World Health Organization (2000) World Health Report 2000; Health Systems: Improving performance. Geneva: WHO.