Wanda Casby
University of Phoenix
HCS 350 Health Care Communication
September 20, 2010
Ana M. Cinco, MSN, RN, CNS
In today’s world, effective communication is an essential component of life. It is a mean for expressing thoughts, feelings, opinions, and concerns. In the healthcare setting effective communication among the healthcare team is crucial. It allows for minimal miscommunication, and safe quality care of the patient. When good communication is missing, health professionals can misunderstand or be ignorant of patient’s needs and expectations; furthermore patients may not understand their rights and the choices available to them” (University of Wolverhampton, 2007). The purpose of this paper is to provide information on healthcare communication and how effective personal and professional healthcare communication can affect other healthcare professionals, clients, and patients. In addition, this paper will provide information on how relevant effective professional healthcare communication is to health outcomes, and how the lack of effective personal and professional communication contributes to poor health outcomes. And finally, theories and principles of therapeutic communication in the health care setting will also be explained. “Healthcare communication is concerned with the application of communication concepts and theories to transactions that occur among individuals on health-related issues” (Northhouse, 1998). It is a significant broad area that covers everything from the physician’s office, to the hospitals, to community nurses working in the community, to insurance companies, and individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand the essential health information and services to make appropriate health decisions. The most significant problem begins when there is breakdown in communication; the patient is the one who suffers the most especially for low health literate