One of the notable events I have experienced was about a patient who developed fistula due to prolonged and difficult labor. I experienced the event while working as an intern in a certain hospital. The patient came in accompanied by her mother and elder sister who said that being the last born and a first-time mother, she was likely exaggerating her complaints about the labor pains. The patient, however, kept saying that she was in a lot of pain and needed help. The doctor examined her and recommended a cesarean session. The theater, however, was not going to be free for the next five hours. Sadly, no one told the patient nor her family that she was going to wait for another five hours before it was her turn to the theater. The patient kept telling the nurses that she needed to get to another hospital, but no one seemed to take her seriously. She was sweating, screaming, and calling for help, but everyone kept telling her that what she was experiencing was normal. She, however, continued to beg for help saying that she felt like something was wrong. After five hours, she finally underwent the cesarean session and delivered. Nonetheless, both the mother and baby developed complications. The mother had a third degree tear and ended up developing fistula. I watched her struggle with the healing process for months in the hospital while such a case could have been prevented.
Notably, the lack of communication competency was what resulted in the problem. The need for adaptable and effective communication is vital for nurses. Indeed, the job of a nurse is highly dependent on competent communication for it to produce good results since the nurse needs to communicate to patients and doctors. Communication involves both talking and listening. The mother and baby discussed in the case above could have been saved from developing the complications if only communication between the nurses, the doctors, the patient as well her family was competent. The patient was talking, but no one seemed to consider her complaints. Despite her being a first-time mother, the doctor, nurses, and family should have taken her complaints seriously. When the patient's complaints persisted even after the doctor's examination, the nurses should have raised concern about the situation to the doctor. Someone should also have told the family that the patient needed to be transferred to another hospital since that particular hospital was unable to perform the cesarean session as soon as she needed it.
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The role of nurses varies depending on their workplace setting as well as their specialty. Despite the difference in the setting and specialties; all nurses at one point or another are caught up in interpersonal, social, as well as emotional demands, which call for competent communication. Nurses need the skills to listen, understand, and share information effectively in their line of work. In addition, nurses need both oral and non-oral communication awareness as well as clarity and objectivity. Human communication is multi-dimensional and therefore complex. The interaction process assumes communication be it verbal or non-verbal; through gestures, facial expression, and other body languages forms. Human language is also marked by other aspects such as reactions, both voluntary or involuntary. Since nursing is an interpersonal process, emotions, stereotyping, and expectations can interfere with the nursing process and therefore should be avoided in professional communication. A nurse should be objective and focus on all forms of a patient's communication to prevent situations like the one discussed above. Assuming that first-time mothers are more likely to complain a lot was a major contribution to ineffective communication, which led to the suffering of the patient. Such barriers to effective communication should be avoided in the nursing profession at all cost.
