Active Listening In The Medical Field

Communication in the healthcare field may be a little different for some people. Healthcare requires the communication to have a purpose, and that purpose is revolved around a person’s needs. A patient with good staff communication during

Marcus Engel emphasized on communication and empathy when dealing with patients in his book, I’m Here: Compassionate Communication in Patient Care. As he struggled to cope with his hospital stay, certain health care providers helped him improve his mental and physical health. He wrote about the doctors, nurses, and other health care providers he met. In his book he mentioned how the behavior and tone of health care providers impacted him. He touched on various topics such as patient privacy, care, and interaction.

I have found that by using active listening and communicating in an open and professional manner with both patients and colleagues has led to strong long term professional relationships. I have received positive feedback from facilitators on my communication, specifically on my bed side manner.

A few therapeutic techniques that a health care professional can use to communicate better are: 1. Justify the patient’s response to clearly understand their perception and beliefs. 2. Always be accepting of the patient even if you do not fully understand their background; be open. 3. Learn how to transform the patient’s feelings into thoughts and vice versa. If individuals in the health care field do not use this technique then they can create difficulties by using non-therapeutic communication; there are various ways to avoid non-therapeutic communication. A few examples to help improve non-therapeutic communication are avoid questions that are irrelevant to personal life, giving the patient your personal opinion or showing criticism towards the patients opinion. Another way to avoid therapeutic communication is using the term “why”. This will give off reassurance to the patient from the health care provider the patient will then become defensive. Make sure that you fully understand the patient’s feelings instead of jumping to conclusions on how the patient must feel; steer clear of the comments that you may make to the patient that could reveal your feelings because these do not matter to the patient and you do not want to lose the

I will stay calm and will not be nervous during the interaction. I will do this by focusing on the needs of my patient and by trying to understand how she is feeling in this situation. I will ask open ended questions. I will do this in order to foster a meaningful conversation and to allow my patient to answer questions in her own way. I will use silence throughout my interaction in order to give my patient time to think about what she wants to say. I will do this by waiting for her answers and by encouraging my patient to take part in our interaction.

Develop an alliance by using caring gestures to the family. Asking caring, sensitive and perceptive questions convey sincere concern for the patient and will help develop trust with the family

Effective communication in the healthcare setting improves recovery rates and reduces pain and complication rates. (Wilkinson et al, 2003). Many complaints to the NHS are attributed to poor communication. Effective communication is reliant on the nurse working in partnership with the patient. It is essential that the nurse establishes a rapport and most of this will be achieved through the use of facial expressions. In my practice, it is important that develop a therapeutic relationship with the patients so that they can be able to put their trust in me. The therapeutic relationship is solely to meet the needs of the patient. In this relationship, there is a rapport established from a sense of mutual understanding and trust. To build a good nurse-patient relationship, I would have to show qualities of empathy, caring, sincerity and trustworthiness. During practice, if I am approaching a patient and the patient looks anxious, I should approach with empathy.

Communication plays a vital role in the healthcare setting, as the relationship with the healthcare professional sets the tone of the care experience and has a powerful impact on patient satisfaction. It is “the shared process in which messages are sent and received between two or more people which are made up of a sender, receiver, and message in a particular context” (cite, date). This essay highlights the importance of, and some common barriers to, effective communication in the healthcare setting. It involves many interpersonal skills such as effective observation, questioning and listening, giving feedback, recognizing and removing barriers.

During the interaction phase, as the client revealed that he was feeling anxious about visiting the physician to discuss the results of a biopsy, I was able to actively listen, and express my genuine interest through appropriate nonverbal communication, and paraphrasing. For instance, when he mentioned his Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, I made sure to nod, maintain eye contact, and verbally genuinely demonstrate my interest in his feelings, and concerns. Additionally, as an attempt to verbally display the

“Extensive research has shown that no matter how knowledgeable a clinician might be, if he or she is not able to open good communication with the patient, he or she may be of no help” (Asnani, MR. 2009). Effective communication plays a big role in healthcare and contributes to the quality of patient care and teamwork.

If I ever have to do anything like this again I know a few things I

There are a number of key elements that help to provide a framework that enhances truthful communication. Firstly, there is the need to develop open and honest communication from the very beginning of the patient-health professional relationship. Secondly, the health professional needs to use patient penchant as a “weigh” by asking them what they wish to know, how much they wish to know, and determining what they already know. In other words, it is a responsibility of the health professional to get a ‘feel’ for the situation, including the patients’ perception of the situation (Ashcroft, Dawson & Drape 2007).

Interpersonal skills are important communication strategies for medical practitioners, predominantly to perform accurate assessments and provide quality treatment for patients. Such as the ability to use emotions to better communicate with others, or the ability to empathise with a patient to help establish engagement and feelings of empowerment, both fundamental attributes to effective practice (Sanson-Fisher & Maguire, 1980). Similarly the ability to listen effectively is also fundamental to practice, as it allows the practitioner to ‘get the full picture’ (Eunson 2012). Without interpersonal skills, practitioners such as radiographers are less likely to establish the trust needed to provide quality outcomes (Halpern, 2003). This

Within the therapeutic setting, active listening is an exceptional tool for a health care professional. Active listening is so helpful that some may argue is it more than just a tool for success, it is a necessity for success. Active listening in a therapeutic setting helps a heath care professional more deeply and holistically assess the patient's physical, mental, and emotional state. Active listening will help a physician, for example, sense how a patient's medical history influences their current perspective regarding certain forms of treatment. In therapeutic settings that service a very diverse population, active listening helps prevent and

We must approach the patient and their family with an attitude of caring, empathy, and respect. We can explain that we would be happy to learn of the patients’ needs and concerns, and of any accommodations we can make so they will feel comfortable