The Key Action Plan Of Communication

Reluctance to take risks is overcome by giving people reassurance, making them feel comfortable and boosting their confidence.

Communication is a two-way process that takes practice and time to be fully effective and is very important in every aspect our personal and professional lives. We communicate every day of our lives both verbally or nonverbally. The process of verbal communication is the exchanging information by transmitting an idea, send that idea, receive feedback, understand the idea and the feedback and provide feedback to the person who sent the message. The main components of communication are context, encoder, message, medium, decoder, and feedback. The context could be social, chronological, cultural, or physical. The individual sending the message will

Communication involves information being sent, received and decoded between two or more people (Balzer-Riley 2008) and involves the use of a number of communication skills; which in a nursing context generally focuses on listening and giving information to patients (Weller 2002). This process of sending and receiving messages has been described as both simple and complex (Rosengren 2000 in McCabe 2006, p.4). It is a process which is continually utilised by nurses to convey and receive information from the patient, co-workers, others they come into contact with and the patient’s family.

There are four basic barriers that hinder effective communication, emotional barriers, physical barriers, semantic barriers, and ineffective listening. All of these barriers separately or combined can contribute to a lack of effective communication.

Effective communication is essential for a nurse in a leadership position. If a nurse is not able to convey or transfer pertinent information to other team members or clients, conflict or problems can arise. A nurse is able to effectively communicate through creating synergy, establishing a purpose or goal, actively listening, being truthful, and being responsible. When a nurse leader is able to successfully communicate, patient safety increases and medical errors decrease which leads to a higher percentage of positive patient outcomes. Effective communication fosters positive nurse-patient and nurse-team member relationships.

Poor communication puts patients in danger because it can lead to medical errors and adverse events. For example, a medication error can occur if a physician’s orders are not updated in time or if the outgoing nurse does not provide the correct time in which a dose was administered last. Thus it is crucial to communicate any recent treatment that has been implemented. In this way, nurses and physicians can facilitate the prevention of errors. Another consequence of ineffective communication is that it can decrease morale and increase work-related stress among members of the healthcare team. If nurses and physicians are not understanding each other’s actions, conflict ensues. It can cause toxic interpersonal relationships. This, in turn, will affect the level of patient care because it is difficult to focus amidst emotional strain and

“Errors in communication give rise to substantial clinical morbidity and mortality (Riesenberg, Leitzsch, & Cunningham, 2010).” As a result, the Joint Commission has identified effective communication as one of its National Patient Safety Goals (Dunsford, 2009).

1. written messages do not have to be delivered on the spur of the moment as they can be edited and revised several times before they are sent so that the content can be shaped to maximum effect 2. written communication provides a permanent record

Communication is any form of expressing and receiving of messages between individuals. The importance of Communication in the nursing profession is to maintain high quality care for the patient but also maintain effective collaboration between professionals. Boykins, D (2014) states that the “registered nurse is expected to communicate in various formats and in all areas of practice”. Various formats include speaking to patients and coworkers as well as utilizing appropriate protocols and systems to effectively communicate regards to patient’s status.

1.1 Explain why it is necessary to use different forms of written communication for different purposes Written communication involves any type of interaction that makes use of the written word. Different forms of writing include, letters, emails, newsletters, reports. The basic process of communication begins when a fact or idea is observed by one person.

A weakness in communication between interdisciplinary team members can impact patient safety and health . A recent study revealed that out of all the claims analyzed , 57 percent of malpractice cases reflected miscommunication between two or more healthcare providers (Riah, 2015). In fact, the same communication failures directly linked to 1,744 deaths over the past five years (Budryk, 2016). During my clinical placement this semester I have witnessed the overwhelming number of health care team members that are involved in each patient’s care. I also take part in morning nursing rounds where all nurses are updated on every patient’s status. Transmission of permanent patient information is also relayed to all members of the health team via the patient chart .Here , interdisciplinary notes all come together to form updated health information on patients. However, although I have read interdisciplinary notes from all team members , I rarely have had the opportunity to personally communicate with members other than doctors and nurses. Personal communication allows for a team member to pass on relevant information in a timely manner without the possibility or misinterpretations. When communication is strictly done non-verbally, it is impossible to ask any questions.. This is why communication between professionals in health care is essential for patient safety and improved quality of care (Koivunen, Niemi., & Hupli,2015). There are 3 main factors that cause miscommunication

Written communication is the design of clear concise writing, meaning the organization of the paper is structured in a clear incisive manner. Written communication helps to preserve our thoughts or feelings. We tend to use this form of writing to reminisce with others, whether it be a family member, loved one, or general audience. Being able to express those feelings through written communication allows for capturing the memory, and setting the mood of the message being conveyed.

Written communication also has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages being that everything is written down therefore can be looked over for future reference. However if the recipient of the written communication does not agree with what has been wrote it can become time consuming.

However, written communication holds many flaws despite how great it can be, for example, verbal communication provides an immediate response. Whereas, this is a strong disadvantage for written communication due to the lack of constant responses. Notes desk (March 8th) states, “written communication is time-consuming as the feedback is not immediate. The encoding and sending of message

This is a disadvantage because, somewhere along the line communication may be broken and the original message lost. Another disadvantage is that “formal routes usually require a written record, which may further restrict the flow of information because many people hesitate to put their thoughts or ideas in writing” (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, p. 18). A third disadvantage that Wallace and Roberson stated would be the inability of this form of communication to respond rapidly to changing situations. With these disadvantages one may think that formal communication should be abolished, but the formal communication channel provides unity, uniformity, and order within the police organizations (Wallace & Roberson, 2009).