Laura's Compassionate Communication

The care that I will give my patient will also involve being empathic. This will enhance the development of the therapeutic relationship that will finally improve the outcomes. Compassion and empathy will make my patients more forthcoming with their symptoms. This yields accurate diagnosis. It also improves care given to patients. The interaction that takes place during this process affects the patient's recovery process. I also intend to cultivate a culture of trust between me and my patients. It has to be there for me to realize effective therapeutic relationship that leads to job satisfaction.

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.

In this written report I will discuss the role of effective communication and interpersonal interaction in Health and Social Care settings. Communication can be explained and put forward in different types of ways, depending on the person whom you are interacting with, the environment in which the form of communication is taking place and finally what type of communication they are used to performing to others, this can also be re worded as the context of communication.

Not all patients (or staff) are comfortable with using touch but I soon realised the boundaries with each individual patient.

Discussion how “words of comfort” encapsulated the books take on medicine, I feel that these words are showing us how in medicine being a caring and sympathetic health care provider is important. (Verghese, 2009) In the book relationships with patients is shown to be as important as the care they are providing. Knowing how much technology and medicine has advanced in the last years I feel that no matter how good the scientific side of it is there has to be a relationship with the health care providers and patients. It is proven that a positive relationship helps a patient recover faster. Relationships can help in many ways just having someone to talk to, give feedback, and encouragement are all way relationships are able to benefit and speed up recovery. (Brainline, 2015)

In summary, the experience of observing and reflecting on this video vignette, elevated my understanding of the range of techniques that enhances communication therapeutically, such as active listening, empathy, developing rapport and the use of non-threatening body language and tone of voice to alleviate patient anxiety and illicit patient cooperation. Moreover, the act of reflective contemplation gave me an understanding of what it means to be self-aware - to be able to recognise and arrest idiosyncrasies such as personal moral values and cultural beliefs so as to promote a healthcare environment that is patient-centred. As general workplace and healthcare resource pressures increases, it becomes even more relevant for healthcare practitioners and future clinicians to be versed in such techniques, so that despite the pressure, they are better able to manage their emotional and physical

Therapeutic communication is the basis to maintain a proper nurse patient relationship. Furthermore, understanding that therapeutic communication which is so vital, patient’s literacy level is also crucial in the communication process. Boykins D., 2014 states that “individuals that experience health literacy problems receive less preventative care and have poor understanding of health problems and care”. A nurse assesses each patients’ literacy level upon their first interaction, she also uses therapeutic communication to build a strong nurse patient relationship. Therapeutic communication can be verbal and nonverbal, both equally important to help build a bridge for communication. An example of nonverbal therapeutic communication would be silence; in some cultures, silence is a norm and a way of thinking. With a precise assessment and proper

Touch: touching another person can send signs of care, love, power or sexual interest. You should think before touching someone in a health and social care environment as it could come across as inappropriate. If you give a child a hug when they are upset in a nursery or hospital this shows that you are caring and trying to make them feel better, but if a adult hugged a teenager this may come across as too intimate. You can use this in health and social care when you are in a care home and a client is feeling lonely and upset and you give them a hug they would appreciate that and not feel offended by it , as long as it’s appropriate and you have their permission to touch them.

Communication, according to the Free Dictionary, is “the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing or behaviors”. It is vital in the development and maintenance of personal and professional relationships. It is important to understand communication also includes non-verbal as well as verbal acts. According to Rane (2010), 93% of communication is nonverbal and body language is an effective nonverbal communication tool. There are two essential components in communication, which are a sender and receiver of a message. In the personal and professional health care communication paper, I will discuss the definition of healthcare

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.

For example, nurses can use eye contact to integrate the problems of the patients or nurses can diagnose some aspect of care at all levels of facial expression (Papadantonaki, A 2006). This shows these signs strongly demonstrate patients’ real interest, feeling, therefore, nurses can base on these and create a harmonious relationship with patients. Moreover, during the data-taking process, nurses must be flexible as each patient own different characteristics that may influence not only the behavior through communication but also the treatment pathway, especially the health record’s accuracy later (Joolaee, Joolaei, Tschudin, Bahrani & Nikbakht Nasrabadi 2010).

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

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

Therapeutic Communication has a huge impact on patients, whether, we, as nurses, see it or not. It is very important for a nurse to gain a patient’s trust. Many patients are already filled with sadness, nervousness and unsure thoughts of their current situation. Such thoughts may make a person scared to trust or open up to a nurse or doctor. Developing a close rapport with a patient can help to create a safe, warming environment, resulting in a positive experience throughout their time in the hospital or even nursing home. In “Therapeutic Communication”, Anna Lauria opens saying, “What we say or do not say can influence whether a client is able to quiet his mind, relax his body and initiate a healing response” (Lauria). Being a nurse, we automatically have the opportunity to create a strong influence on patients’ lives during, and even after, their hospital experience.

Reflecting feelings and content is hugely important in a clinical setting in order to make implicit and