Communication by definition is the sharing of information, thoughts, and feelings. In the nursing profession, it is a vital element in helping others. Nurses have to understand the structure and function of communication in their place of expertise to participate effectively in their communication with clients, each other and all members of the healthcare team. Communication could be verbal or nonverbal, and any communication in a human relationship determines the structure and function of the interpersonal relationships. The primary role in the nursing profession is to maximize the patient's potential for optimal health (Hood, 2018). By understanding the power of communication in shaping professional relationships, nurses can establish therapeutic relationships with clients. In helping relationships, nurses communicate with the patients with the aim of assisting them to achieve optimal health to support them through difficult situations. In any helping relationship, quality nurse-client communication is a vital determinant of its success (Hood, 2018).
When engaging patients in a conversation, nurses empathize with, demonstrate respect and respond genuinely to their needs. When the nurse and patient get into a relationship where both exhibit responsibility and authority for care, they are said to be in a collaborative relationship. Here, the nurse and patient work in unison to prioritize the diagnoses and formulate a care plan. Presence, respect empathy and genuineness are the principles of communication that help facilitate a successful collaborative relationship between the patient and the client (Hood, 2018). The presence or being simply put-being there…'is an important part of several nursing conceptual models. The nurse focuses all their time and energy to the client during their interactions. Empathy can be described as the ability to sense, understand, share and accept the feelings of another. In professional practice, it enables the nurse to develop a good helping relationship with the client. Respect is the showing of regard or esteem for another and genuineness is described as being real, honest and sincere.
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People are influenced by those they encounter and also influence the same people they encounter. By this fact, it is established that apart from openness and interpersonal experiences, the power to influence oneself and others is equally important. Because of the specialized knowledge and skill wielded by nurses, they may be perceived as having power over the patients they serve. It is, therefore, necessary to establish professional boundaries to maintain a healthy therapeutic relationship. Professional boundaries refer to imaginary lines separating the nurse from the patient that is set to maintain the integrity of the therapeutic relationship. Patients are vulnerable when receiving professional nursing services and therefore the establishment of boundaries is key ( Robins & Dai, 2015) . Crossing boundaries are discouraged during communication in nursing practice and may occur when nurses get overinvolved, have excessive personal disclosure, are secretive or offer special treatment to the patient. Nurses should engage in self-reflection to evaluate their interaction with patients, and this helps them become more self-aware of the effectiveness of their communication with their clients.
Hand-offs communication is the transfer of information with authority and responsibility during changes in care across the continuum to ensure continuity and safety of the patient's care. Information is vulnerable to content loss especially during an exchange with other providers ( Robins & Dai, 2015) . The joint commission predicts that 80 percent of medical errors are due to a communication failure in the handoff process. A contributing factor in communication error is the lack of standardization. A systems approach can help immensely to provide a mechanism for the provider to relay information accurately. The study conducted portrayed that the use of a checklist during handoff can help providers accurately exchange information, therefore increasing the adequacy of the handoff (Hood, 2018). The results showed that the use of checklist decreased information loss and the need for clarification among providers.
In conclusion, the use of checklists has a potential to decrease errors related to miscommunication and should, therefore, be adapted to nursing communication. Communication cannot be overemphasized in nurse-client relationships. It is a basis for good therapeutic relationship and facilitates collaborative relationships between the patient and healthcare provider.
References
Hood, L. J. (2018). Leddy & Pepper`s Professional Nursing (9 th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health / Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Robins, H.M., & Dai, F. (2015). Handoffs in the postoperative anesthesia care unit: use of a checklist for transfer of care. AANA journal , 83 (4), 265.
