Effective Communication For Nurses

Effective communication is a required element when it comes to delivering services to people and it is quite important in the nursing field when giving care to patients as it provides a better understanding of what might be ailing the patients. A recent study showed that lack of effective communication between nurses and their patients has led to over 400,000 deaths in the United States which in actual fact could have been prevented. Truth is lack of effective communication will lead to some preventable medical errors which could in turn, end up costing the life of a patient. This is to tell you that the importance of effective communication cannot be over-emphasized particularly in the field of nursing.

Whenever it happens that nurses have to provide personal care to a patient such that they are stationed with that particular patient for a certain period of time, then it is essential that there is good communication between nurses and patients in order to ensure that the purpose of the care is fully served. For this to be possible, nurses need to demonstrate the following attributes: apt understanding, unwavering courtesy, kindness sincerity, and the necessary confidentiality. Another thing to consider is the people around the patient; in order to achieve effective communication in such a case, the people around the patient must be carried along which means a nurse should not just focus on the patient alone. Everyone around must understand the reason for each action being taken by the nurse as well as the consequence(s) that the action or lack of it holds for the patient. A good nurse thus has to be well educated, learn from experience and should be able to trust his or instincts in order to make sound decisions.

Nursing as a health care science, goes beyond meeting human needs medically but also attend to their social, physical and emotional needs which is why communication is quite important. As a result, a burgeoning nurse cannot afford to rely on mere scientific knowledge in attending to patients, he or she needs to incorporate interpersonal, intellectual as well as technical abilities and skills. Communication is a vital component of nursing and plays an important role in all its interventions such as prevention, treatment, therapy, rehabilitation, education and health promotion.

Communication can be defined as the act or process of using words, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information, ideas thoughts and feelings to someone which goes to show that there are various means to communicate with people and for nurses, none of the ways should be taken for granted. For example, therapeutic practice involves the oral communication of public health officials and nurses on the one hand and the patient or his relatives on the other. It is a two way process in which the patient conveys their fears and concerns to their nurse which helps the nurse to make a correct diagnosis. The nurse then takes the information and in turn, transmits other information to the patient with discretion and delicacy as to the nature of the disease while at the same time provides recommendation of treatment and a rehabilitation plan for health promotion.