Patient care in healthcare set up is a complex and detailed process which out rightly involves the cooperation of many individuals who share information about patients and make meaningful discussions among themselves and the management to determine treatment measures. As a result of the need to pass information, communication becomes a key component of the operations of healthcare set up. Communication forms the basis of all operations in healthcare and it is essential in the coordination of activities such as patient treatment, rehabilitation, therapy, and education as well as the coordination between different departments in healthcare.
Why Good General Communication is Essential in the Healthcare
A majority of the services provided in healthcare set up consists of services which rely on the use of scientific methods. Professions such as nursing, therapy, medicine, audiology, and pharmacy all apply the use of scientific information to deliver on their services. Consequentially, for the healthcare professionals to deliver their services effectively to the patients in the interpersonal environment, verbal communication is critical.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Good communication is important in healthcare as it helps to improve the treatment process in patients. Communication in and around the healthcare profession helps in providing comprehensive and quality care to the patients. A 2014 research on communication in the nursing profession indicated that nurses who display affection towards patients in the process of delivering patient care are more successful in creating a good relationship between them and the patients (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014). According to Gupta (2015), communication is therapeutic and has a similar impact in regards to treatment as medicine. Therefore, clinicians who engage patients effectively through good communication skills and channels are likely to achieve a positive outcome which empowers patients to overcome pain. Communication in healthcare helps the healthcare professionals to better understand their patients and as a result treat them accordingly.
Another importance of good general communication in the healthcare set up is the role that communication plays in the lives of healthcare professionals. As human beings, professions plying their trade in the healthcare set up often face challenges that impact their service delivery and their lives outside their place of work. Studies have demonstrated that good communication plays an essential role in improving the level of job satisfaction among healthcare professionals (Childress, 2015. Good communication with patients helps to reduce fatigue, provide financial motivation and reduce the amount of work time missed through illness.
How Good General Communication Relates to Patient Safety
Good general communication and safety are interrelated. Healthcare professionals represent one of the industries with a significantly high degree of risk. Therefore, teamwork and good communication are essential to coordination of patient care failure to which it can lead to catastrophic outcomes. Errors in the field of healthcare can lead to a devastating impact on patients which includes death, increased hospital costs or worse complications that originally diagnosed. According to research conducted by CRICO strategies, miscommunication in hospitals between 2009 and 2013 amounted to 1,774 deaths and $1.7 billion in hospital costs (Budryk, 2016). The staggering statistics revealed in the research shows the importance of patient safety for healthcare institutions and patients and the dangers of poor communication.
Another aspect that clearly depicts a direct relationship between good communication and patient safety is embodied in the nature of patient treatment. Patient treatment is a process which often takes more than one individual or profession as well as lengthy periods of time before completion. There are instances especially in areas such as cancer treatment whereby the coordination of various departments such as therapy, counseling, medical treatment, surgery, and pharmacy are required. In such instances, good general communication is key to ensuring that patient safety and treatment is attained. A slight delay or miscommunication between the individuals involved or departments involved can endanger the patient and, in the process, compromising their safety.
Therapeutic Communication
Ehrlich and Coakes (2016) defined therapeutic communication as the process used by healthcare practitioners to help or consciously influence patients to gain a better understanding through the use of nonverbal or verbal communication. The process requires the use of certain strategies which show respect and invoke acceptance to help encourage patients to gain courage and, in the long run, express their ideas and feelings.
Components of Therapeutic Communication
Therapeutic communication is sensitive in nature and requires caution when addressing the subject. As a result, there are several concepts that guide its approach. One of the key concepts applicable in therapeutic communication is the age and level of development factor. The age and development factor are a key consideration due to the response generated by individuals of various age groups and level of development. The level of consciousness is also another key concept that is vital to therapeutic communication. While there are clients with the ability to send, process and respond to messages, there are others who are unable to communicate effectively. Therefore, it is important to consider the level of consciousness among clients in therapeutic communication.
Another concept that is crucial in therapeutic communication is the level of stress and the emotional state of the patient. Stress and emotions can adversely affect the communication of patients. Therefore, it is important to eliminate the two components as they are a barrier to therapeutic communication. Lastly, language is a major determinant in therapeutic communication. The language is spoken by healthcare practitioners and that of the client may often differ and as a result, the use of interpreters with the understanding of other languages or the use of sign language interpreters is important to help facilitate the process.
Goals of Therapeutic Communication
Therapeutic communication as a process is important to the patient as well as the healthcare profession. There are several goals that cause healthcare professions to pursue the use of therapeutic communication. One of the main goals of therapeutic communication is to help the professionals to gain a holistic view of the client.
Therapeutic communication helps to reveal a client’s experiences which help a professional to build a concept about the client to facilitate treatment. Another goal of therapeutic communication is that it helps to create a nonjudgmental environment for the patient. Therapeutic relationships often rely on trust to work. Trust and effective communication create autonomy and confidence for the client. Another goal of therapeutic communication is the creation client-centered approach which seeks to determine the problem that the client faces. The approach further helps to solidify the relationship between the client and the healthcare profession. Therapeutic communication also helps to address the client’s relationship challenges by teaching them the client and family on the importance of self-care skills. Lastly, therapeutic communication helps to guide a client to identify a favorable plan of action and the necessary steps required to work towards full filling the plan through a socially acceptable and satisfying resolution.
Actions that Promote Therapeutic Communication
Therapeutic communication relies on the ability of the client and the profession to create a rapport between themselves and engage each other. As a result, there are actions which promote therapeutic communication while there are other actions that block it. Actions such as active listening and sharing of observations are essential in therapeutic communication. Being attentive helps the client to feel comfortable and as a result, enable them to communicate effectively. Sharing observations is also important as it helps the client to express themselves as they develop a response towards the observations made.
Sharing of hope and empathy are also important actions that promote therapeutic communication. Sharing of hope and empathy signifies an ability on the part of the profession to understand the plight of the client and as a result, help to create an atmosphere in which the client is able to feel welcome and consequently express their problems.
The use of touch and silence represent important actions which help to facilitate therapeutic communication. The use of touch through actions such as holding hands helps patients with severe ailments. Silence is also an important action which helps clients to express themselves. Silence helps them to think and analyze what they having been saying.
Actions which block Therapeutic Communication
Therapeutic communication requires a profession to provide a conducive atmosphere which enables the patient to articulate their views and challenges. Judging actions or words of patients creates a tense and unfavorable atmosphere for the patient which is a hindrance to therapeutic communication.
Questions are an important aspect that helps to facilitate therapeutic communication. However, constant asking of questions without allowing patients to express themselves or asking irrelevant questions may block therapeutic communication.
Another action that hinders therapeutic communication is requesting an explanation. Requesting an explanation from the patient about their feeling or expressions can threaten a patient and as a result, block their willingness to freely express themselves.
Lastly, making stereotyped comments may block therapeutic communication. Stereotyped answers reduce the ability of patients to be drawn to the discussion and expressing themselves. Stereotypic comments keep a conversation at superficial levels and prevent therapeutic communication.
How Therapeutic Communication Differs from General Communication
Therapeutic communication and general communication differ on several grounds. One of the major differences between general communication and therapeutic communication is that therapeutic communion is one-sided while general communication is not. Therapeutic communication is one-sided because it focuses on the patient and the expressions of the patient with minimal interruption from the profession. General communication, on the other hand, is two-sided as it requires constant communication between the patient and the client. There is a need on the part of general communication to communicate constantly to help solve the issues at hand.
Another difference between general communication and therapeutic communication is the difference in the emotional connection required between the two forms. In general communication, there is lesser emotion input required to achieve success in communication while in therapeutic communication, a huge amount of emotional connection is required to facilitate a connection between the profession and the patient. Also, therapeutic communication requires more input other than the academic knowledge that is required in the healthcare profession. Unlike in general communication, therapeutic communication requires the use of other life skills such as effective communication through proper listening and speaking skills.
Lastly, one of the major differences between therapeutic communication and general communication is the purpose of the two forms of communication. In therapeutic communication, the intention of the professional is to establish a relationship between the patient and the profession. The relationship is vital to the treatment process. General communication, on the other hand, does not rely on building a relationship between the patient and the healthcare professional as it relies on information acquired through tests and symptoms to undertake treatment.
Conclusion
Communication is an important part of healthcare as it helps to facilitate various operations in the profession. General communication and therapeutic communication are vital to the healthcare profession as they help treat and safeguard patient in healthcare. Therefore, it is important to understand the essentials of general and therapeutic communication as well as factors that block or promote their achievement to help promote patient care in healthcare facilities.
References
Budryk, Z. (2016). Healthcare miscommunication cost $1.7B--and nearly 2,000 lives . [Online] Fiercehealthcare.com. Available at: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/healthcare/healthcare-miscommunication-cost-1-7b-and-nearly-2-000-lives [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].
Childress, S. B. (2015). Team communication: It's about patient safety. Journal of oncology practice , 11 (1), 23-25.
Ehrlich, R. A., & Coakes, D. M. (2016). Patient Care in Radiography-E-Book: With an Introduction to Medical Imaging . Elsevier Health Sciences.
Gupta, A. (2015). The Importance of Good Communication in Treating Patients' Pain. AMA journal of ethics , 17 (3), 265.
Kourkouta, L., & Papathanasiou, I. V. (2014). Communication in nursing practice. Materia socio-medica , 26 (1), 65.
