Nurse-Patient Communication, Interdisciplinary Communication, and Patient Safety Open, honest, and effective patient-clinician communication is key to better health outcomes for the patient (Paget et al., 2011). Effective interdisciplinary communication is also imperative in reducing medical errors, as these errors often result from communication failures among caregivers (Dingley, Daugherty, Derieg, & Persing, n.d.). Studies indicate improved patient safety, as well as better patient satisfaction with effective communication (Dingley et al., n.d.). Rather than restricting a patient’s autonomy, clinicians should encourage patients to take an active role in the decision-making process regarding their care (Paget et al., 2011). The purpose of this paper is to discuss principles of effective communication, methods of interdisciplinary communication, as well as ethical principle applied to communication.
Principles of Communication According to Paget et al. (2011), there are seven fundamental principles of effective patient-clinician communication that will improve patient outcomes. Paget’s et al. (2011) principles of communication are as follows: The first concept is ‘mutual respect’, which allows the clinician and patient to communicate openly and honestly as partners in the decision-making process respecting each other’s insight on the matter. The second concept is ‘harmonized goals’ ensuring both the clinician and patient have a full understanding of the
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
Communication is primarily an exchange of information, ideas, or thoughts. This paper will focus on the process of verbal and nonverbal communication as well as the components of each. It outline the formal and informal channels of criminal channels. This paper will also list the different barriers to effective communication within a criminal justice organization. Finally it will cover strategies that can be implemented to overcome communication barriers within criminal justice organizations.
“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).
Communication is so important in a healthcare and social care setting for a number of reasons. The patient and the healthcare professional need to understand each other clearly in order for the patient to receive the best possible
Good communication between physician and patient is vital for a patient to make an informed choice regarding their care.
As a professional administering and delegating care to a patient you have a great responsibility to communicate with them. The world of healthcare is large and to the general public is utterly confusing. As the professional you need make the patient feel secure about the care they are receiving. It also lends itself to informing the families of the patient as well. If the patient is confused, it’ the job of the professional to be the teacher. It’s not enough for the information to be given, the information needs to be interpreted.
In recent times, in the field of health communication, a shift in beliefs has become apparent. Many feel that the physician-centered approach is no longer the best way to manage the interaction between patients and doctors. A new collaborative approach has been adopted by many. This collaborative approach is more of a partnership between the patient and doctor. More communicating by the patient, and more listening by the doctor. When the doctor and patient speak to one another, they speak to each other as peers sharing ideas,
Communication plays a big role in the health care system. Without effective communication, how will we keep our patients safe? It is imperative for health care workers to have proper communication with their patients. It is also important for interdisciplinary teams to communicate effectively. According to the Joint Commission, seventy percent of sentinel events were caused by failure of communication (Dingley, Daugherty, Derieg, & Persing, 2008). The purpose of this essay is to discuss the seven principles of patient-clinician communication to meet patients’ expectation and using interdisciplinary communication to improve patient safety.
Effective communication is now a right to patients. The Joint Commission has revised the Rights and Responsibilities of the Individual (RI) to “address the patient’s right to receive information in a manner he or she understands”. The Joint Commission suggests that each hospital set self-assessment guidelines addressing “what attempts have been made to support communication and observing patient care units to determine how patients’ needs are supported”. Recommendations from the Joint Commission suggest that hospitals support the patient’s ability to understand and act on health information.
Active listening may offer a great deal of potential to increase the effectiveness of communication which takes within the practice, creating increased clarity and reducing the potential for misunderstandings, especially with patients who may be emotional or find communication difficult. Research by Street and Haidet (2011), looked specifically at communication between doctors and patients, and found frequent significant gap between physicians' perception of the patients' health concerns and actual beliefs and concerns, creating the potential for misunderstanding. Factors that were attributed to the problem were presumptions and communication issues between the two parties. While this research looked at doctors, other authors have extended this to different healthcare professions, applying to both patient and peer communication (Propp et al., 2010; Beam et al., 2010).
“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.
Communication between patients and all members of their health team is essential for positive outcomes for the patient Following the seven principles of communication, utilizing communication tools to improve interdisciplinary communication such as SBAR and team huddles, and the importance of ethical principles are ways to maximize communication between all members of the patients’ health care team.
The Healthy People 2020 initiative includes goals to increase the number of patients who report that their healthcare providers listened to them carefully to 65% and increase the number of patients who report that their healthcare provider explained things so they could understand them to 66% (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). The nursing profession plays an important role in making progress toward these goals through advocacy for effective communication. Being able to effectively communicate with patients is an essential skill for healthcare providers, especially
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).
Within nursing, there is a very delicate balance between a nurse and her patient that must be maintained if the patient is to receive the care that he or she is entitled to receive. The patient must feel comfortable trusting his nurse to hear his needs and respond to them appropriately and in order for this to be the case, the nurse must first provide therapeutic communication effective enough to elicit such a response in her patient. There are both verbal and non-verbal components within the nurse-patient relationship. These components greatly influence how a nurse and patient will relate to each other and, ultimately, greatly influence the care that the patient receives.