Running head:THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AMONG
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD
Robinson, F.P., Gorman, G., Slimmer, L.W., & Yudkowsky, R. (2010). Perceptions of Effective
and Ineffective nursing-physician communication in Hospitals. Nursing Forum, 45(3), 206-216.
Claudia Aguilar
821624475
February, 26/2014
NURS 260: Nursing Theory
Franklin Gorospe
Humber College ITAL
Running head:THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AMONG
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD
In the the journal “The importance of effective communication among healthcare
professionals in the health care field”, the main point was expressing the validity and great
benefit to having effective communication between health care professionals. Although at times
it seems to be a challenge, keeping a proper and efficient balance is crucial to safe care being
carried out. This journal goes onto to describing that without effective communication the health
care practice itself would deteriorate and worse; the clients involved would suffer. Due to this
finding, communication enabling is in the early steps of learning and training for health care
professionals; as it is a foundation on these health practices. Ineffective communication causes
negative problems such as described in the article; by stress, issues with patient outcomes,
adverse events, transfer delays and effects the length of stay as said in “Perceptions of Effective
and Ineffective nursing-physician communication in Hospitals” article (2010). Stress of work
load, lack of education and cultural barriers can all be causes of ineffective communication. The
use of ISBAR which is used to help promote proper communication from health care
professionals to the doctor helps to keep ideas clear, concise, straight to the point and efficient.
The purpose of the pick of this article was to portray the emphasis of ineffective communication
and how common it is in the health care field.
Stress in the work field
Due to the severities of the hospital settings, there is an increase of stress on the workers
and the demands they need to meet which can be a leading cause to ineffective communication.
The yearly increase of patients and the complexities brings upon stress to the health care
providers. The health care providers are having to cope and to develop a resilience to adapt and
learn new diseases and forms of care. Increased workload results in less time, motivation and
energy for communication with medical staff and patients..as said in the article “Perceptions of
Running head:THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AMONG
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD
Effective and Ineffective nursing-physician communication in Hospitals” (2010)... When
workers are under stress they are more prone to make errors in the care plan. The errors can
consist of medication errors, diagnosis errors , a confusion in patients, documentation errors, and
the aiding being carried out itself can be done in the wrong manner all causing a rick of danger to
patients health. For example, a nurse in the emergency department is known to see a number of
patients daily with complex diagnosis and treatments; since their workload is higher then
compared to a nurse in a less busier department they are prone to have an increase in stress and
are more easily able to make communication errors. Keeping attention to detail in the care plan
with a proper balanced work load will ensure that the clients receiving the care are receiving the
best and most attentive care possible.
Lack of education
When a health care professional lacks education in the health care practice they do not
have the sufficient knowledge on how to achieve the most optimal care that can be provided.
With this being said, examples such as reading clients body language or understanding the
importance of nurse- client therapeutic relationships can cause a grave burden to the health
practice. As described in the college of Nurses of Ontario, practice guidelines of Nurse-client
therapeutic care (2011)... Nurses achieve therapeutic communication by recognizing that all
behavior has meaning. They should try to understand the cause of a client’s attitudes and
behavior. When nurse are properly educated they are able to better understand things like
whether a client is in pain by their facial expression. Also, by having a proper background of
effective communication; the nurse Is able to pick up key factors from their subjective data for
conversations that can be of relevance to the care plan being formulated. Without these tools of
communication, the health care provider lacks further significant mechanisms that can perfect
Running head:THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AMONG
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD
the clients health or stay at the hospital. Health care providers who have not been exposed to
effective communication techniques such as SBAR and narratives will have difficulty with
expressing ideas to other health care providers along with proper education implementation
given to patients as well.
Cultural barriers
In our every day society, we see a increase in languages and culture diversity in the
health care field. This can be present in both the health care providers and clients, with this being
said many clients are unable to properly communicate with health care providers information
about their reason for seeking care as well as relationship building itself. Without the link to
relationships with clients, the care provider is unable to communicate proper aid, treatments,
culture sensitivity cautions, and have to gather information objectively rather then having an
upper hand of using subjective data. Factors such as religion and beliefs have a huge influence
on clients and what how they believe they should be cared after. As expressed in the College of
Nurse of Ontario guidelines Culture Sensitivity (2011)... A therapeutic nurse-client relationship
is based on meaningful communication between the nurse and client. When a communication
barriers exist, the nurse is responsible for developing a communication plan to make the client an
informed partner in the provision of care. Clients have their own right to refuse care and to
implement their own such as herbal remedies or religion for instance. Because of this, healthcare
providers must be up to date and ready for the case of having to compromise cultural barriers to
initiate care.
In the article “Cultural Transformation Toward Patient Safety” (2008), it is stated that
conversations of communication are crucial in reducing errors in the health care field. The article
Running head:THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AMONG
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD
goes further into describing that communication skills seen within the workplace are often the
same skills developed throughout a lifetime. But It takes a
conscious effort and training to redesign an individual’s communication skills and abilities for
effective use. Issues such as stress due to the work load, lack of education and cultural barriers
are causal reasons for ineffective communication. By improvising communication errors and
finding the foundation of the problem, we can take steps forward to improving the health care
practice for the future and prevent errors from happening again.
References
CNO: Culturally Sensitive Care (2009)
http://www.cno.org/Global/docs/prac/41040_CulturallySens.pdf
CNO: Therapeutic Nurse Client Relationship (1999)
http://www.cno.org/Global/docs/prac/41033_Therapeutic.pdf
Cultural Transformation Toward Patient Safety: One Conversation at a Time
Running head:THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AMONG
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD
Moore, Martie L, RN, BSN, MAOM, CPHQ; Putman, Patrice A, RN, JD. Nursing
Administration Quarterly32.2 (Apr/Jun 2008): 102.
Robinson, F.P., Gorman, G., Slimmer, L.W., & Yudkowsky, R. (2010). Perceptions of
Effective and Ineffective nursing-physician communication in Hospitals. Nursing Forum, 45(3),
206-216.