Reflective Essay on Interpersonal Communication Skills and Patient Interactions in Nursing Practice

In this document we will discuss about Reflective Essay on Interpersonal Communication Skills and Patient Interactions in Nursing Practice and below are the summary points of this document:- Reflective essay on the importance of interpersonal communication skills and personal effectiveness in nursing practice Utilizing Gibbs reflective model to analyze and improve patient interactions Exploring the challenges and positive outcomes of the nursing experience, emphasizing the significance of effective communication with patients.

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
TOPIC - REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1REFLECTIVE ESSAY
The following essay is a reflective account of my interaction with patient after
evaluation of his feedback. This essay encompasses my interpersonal communication skills as
well as personal effectiveness and formulation of a proper action plan based on the responses
of my patient for the establishment of a proper therapeutic relationship with the patient.
The reflective essay follows the reflection model proposed by Gibbs which consists of
six components essential for the proper structuring of my experience as a part of the nursing
staff. Gibbs reflective model is one of the most common method of reflective writing used for
the proper and exact evaluation of experiences in a particular situation according to specific
professions. It helps in the encouragement of thinking about an experience systematically.
Furthermore, it provides a clear and lucid demonstration of the changes and impact of a
particular experience, clarity and preciseness being the two most important factors for the
structuring of a refection regarding a proper situation.
I was ecstatic as well as nervous about the interaction with my patients, implementing
all possible principle of nursing and care including compassion. Since older patients need
greater inspection interaction with them made me nervous and I often failed to understand
their requirements adding to the difficulty level of the situation. There are various positive
and negative effects of the experience I had as a student nurse during my tenure in the
practice facility. It taught me how to react to patients according to the intensity of the
situation and abide by the social as well as cultural beliefs of people. Moreover, it enhanced
my practice of a holistic approach towards my patients and help in the implementation of
special methods according to the age groups of the patients. I tried to be compassionate
towards my patients honing my listening skills and trying to understand my patients through
their body language. Communication is often termed as the way of communicating and
transferring information form one place to another place or one person to a group.
Communication is often inclusive of emotions, the present cultural situation. Moreover, the

2REFLECTIVE ESSAY
medium of communication is also important in the establishment of a stable relationship.
Communication with the patient is very important for people of my profession as
communication pitfalls are almost 10% in general population and increases in hospital
admissions. Moreover, patients who are hospitalized often face difficulties including
sensory, mobility as well as cognitive needs along with language barriers during their stay.
As a nurse I can provide high quality healthcare services only when I am familiar with the
needs of the patients. For consideration of my profession as a nurse, relationship with my
patient is the most pivotal component involved in nursing care. In amalgamation with other
organizational factors, it is important for provision of an effective nursing care. As per the
reports of the Research Centre for Quality Care, almost 10.8% of all the patients often believe
that they have problems associated with effective communication with the nurse
(Zamanzadeh et al.2014 ). Asking questions as well as expression of the patient’s concerns is
of utmost priority as they often face behavioural reactions with the people who give care. As
a nurse I should throw light on the emotional aspects of care alongside the usual biological as
well as medical aspects of care. As a nurse, I tried to maintain a holistic approach and
establish a therapeutic relationship with the patient which eventually led to the enhancement
of my interpersonal skills and created a connection with the patient apart from medical
interventions.
From the feedbacks of my patient I could understand that proper interaction was
lacking within me as I should respond and interact both ways and try to listen to the
responses of my patient properly. Differences in the viewpoint and perception of the patient
and nurse is important as they should comply with both the concepts. This is an effective
barrier in my case and I should try to improvise it in future. Having clarity in the though
processing is one of the effective ways of removing the potential barriers to communication.
Moreover for removing the barriers in communication, I would seek advice of others before

3REFLECTIVE ESSAY
communication and take proper care of the body language for interacting with my patient.
Retaining consistency is important for my effective communication and I should also keep a
check on communication systems. Effective communication have multiple benefits including
the overall health and well-being of the patients as well as health professionals. It has a
positive influence on the rate of patients’ recovery and helps with issues involving adherence
to the methods of treatment used, psychological functioning, controlling the level of pain give
to the patient and escalating the quality of life. Thus, by taking care of the respective
concerns, I can remove the difficulties faced during communication.
Furthermore, self-awareness increases effectiveness in communication which helps in
the identification of gaps in various management skills and helps in the promotion of skill
development. According to (O’hagan et al. 2014), it has been observed that nurses often are
able to perform properly and report accurately due to lack of self-awareness and advice from
an external perspective may be helpful in enhancing their performance. Roter Interaction
Analysis System (RIAS) and Set the Stage, Elicit information, Give information, Understand
the patients perspective and end the encounter (SEGUE) framework have been helpful in
evaluating the communication of the nurses along with the interactions with the patients.
Moreover, from the feedback of the patient, it is important for me to assess the strengths and
weaknesses and develop a proper intuitive decision making skills. All such factors would
help me enhance my personal effectiveness along with management of stress and self-
motivation using various measures.
Cultural barriers are the most important hindrances which can occur during
interaction with the patients. As a nurse I should be aware of the various cultural differences
among the patients which is simultaneously overlapped with cultural and social hindrances.
These issue create difficulties in communication leading to improper provision of care
towards the patients.

4REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Various interactive sessions with the patient is important as such relationships and
interactions with the clinicians are important in playing a substantial role in the capacity for
self-care. Moreover the interactions affect the understanding of the patients and escalates
their present mental conditions which affects the overall health of the patient. Since I lack in
interaction according to the patient I would prefer to let my patient talk which would help
them in meeting the expectations. Moreover, I should make sure to be involved in all the
important decisions taken in their lives involving cure and treatment. I as a nurse should also
treat my patient with respect and courtesy and be able to understand their responses about
their medical status and treatment.
The assay have helped me in assessing my strengths and weakness and based on the
feedback I can improvise my nursing care plans for a better assessment of a care plan for my
patient which will ultimately lead to formation of strong relationship. Once I am able to make
my patient feel at ease and give him the opportunity to express his views and respond to them
in a caring way according to the requirement of the 360 degrees assay, I would consider
myself competent in my profession.
This situation would have been different if I had treated the adverse situations with
diplomacy and increased my internal skills regarding communication with the patient.
Moreover I should have followed an assertive as well as compassionate mode of care towards
my patient for increasing the effective communications. Self-awareness as well as
assertiveness are some of the qualities present in a nurses for the enhancement of the
interpersonal skills for proper evaluation of the nursing system. Self-awareness is actually
defined as the continuous process of exploring as well as noticing the various aspects of self-
inclusive of psychological, behavioural, and as well as physical along with the basic intention
of the development of personal as well as interpersonal understanding (Bach and
Grant,2015). As a nurse it is one of my primary duties to be aware of the various changes

5REFLECTIVE ESSAY
occurring in me regarding the behavioural physical or psychological suspects with my clients.
Such development will help me to develop about the awareness which arises requiring the
actions, values feelings as well as beliefs which are ultimately brought to our consciousness
ultimately making us aware of our behaviour as nurses along with the various interactions
with the patient. On the other hand assertiveness is another of the basic qualities which has to
be possessed by the nurses and related professionals like me. It is actually standing up and
fighting for the personal rights as well as the expression of the feelings, thoughts, and beliefs
which are implemented in honest or direct ways (Chambers-Clarck,2003). Moreover
according to the studies conducted by (IIhan et al.2016). there are various nursing programs
which helps in affecting the various perspectives of personal development. Moreover nurses
often get enhanced in their skills of critical thinking as well as analysis and critical
development of thee communication as well as management sills which ultimately helps in
escalating the self-esteem and the assertiveness of the nurse. Thus, as an assertive nurse I
should available to defend myself for the rights of others for the establishment of a stable
therapeutic relationship with my patients. Thus as a nurse it is my primary duty to keep the
desires of my patients before any other medical interventions, thus showing a holistic
approach towards treatment towards my patients. One of the primary effects of myself being
an effective nurse is finding out the various acknowledgement of my patients’ beliefs
pertaining to all social as well as cultural matters. Similarly proper alignment of the emotions
as well as feelings of the patients and moreover a pragmatic solution is required in resolving
the situations by being an assertive nurse as well as providing a holistic approach towards my
clients.
According to the professional aspects of nursing, therapeutic relationship is defined as
the interpersonal process which is instrumental in establishing a healthy relationship
bbetween the patient and the nurse. It is often conceptualized as the rock around which

6REFLECTIVE ESSAY
psychiatric nursing is developed. A strong therapeutic relationship is prevalent as the main
core of the role of a psychiatric nurse. According to the claims of Theodoridou, Schlatter,
Ajdacic, Rossler and Jager (2012), the most important relationship between the patients and
the care providers is the establishment of a healthy relationship. For it, a complete
understanding of the patients needs is most important (Pazargadi et al.2015). Following a
holistic approach is one of the important principles to be followed while interacting with
patients. Moreover, according to the ethics of nursing practice, I should consider my patients
as an absolute system, exploring issues related to health which is characterised by external as
well as internal environments simultaneously along with respecting the uniqueness of patients
life (Childs, 2009). Every theory of nursing focusses on the philosophy inclusive of guides,
abstracts, and nursing practices. Moreover, the various conceptual models given a
representation of guide to direct nursing care and practice (Mc Cabe and Timmins, 2013).
According to studies done by (Morales Fernadezz et al.2016), challenges of nursing handover
during shift hours have been considered through carrying out a qualitative approach. The
main challenges has been the non-holistic approach of the nurses towards their patients.
Moreover, poor management skills have also been seen during the management of the
patients by the nurses. The qualitative analysis thus stresses on the kind of approach nurses
should have while dealing with their patients. I should always follow a proper approach
toward my clients while following the six C s according to the culture pertaining to
compassionate care according to nursing principles of care. It includes the terms inclusive of
compassion, care, communication. Compassion is often considered as the empathy as well as
deep awareness inclusive of the suffering of others which is often intended in enhancing or
alleviating the concern. Humility and kindness are some of the qualities besides compassion
which are considered as important qualities for provision of care and support towards the
patients (Harris and Griffin, 2015). Competence, commitment as well as courage are required

7REFLECTIVE ESSAY
for effective implementation of the methods of nursing. Compassionate nursing is often
involved in proper recognition proper understanding as well as relieving of the suffering of
patients through various emotional engagement with the patients. Compassionate nursing is
often changed by various behaviours and attitudes of the nurses. As a nurse I should always
follow the various methodologies of communication including accurate listening skills along
with non-verbal as well as verbal skills apart from a proper holistic approach. Written skills
also matter for my interaction with the patients. Moreover, I should take extra attention if my
patient is submitted in the palliative care. Palliative care often is involved in providing
support as well as symptoms and their effective control, which is important for provision of
care especially for patient’s with diseases which are life threatening. According to guidelines
for provision of care the regular assessments of the spiritual concerns is an important concern
along with the patients dreams, fears, hopes along with incorporation of their concerns in the
daily care as life completion activities (Klean, Clayton, and Butow, 2014). Thus, following
the various strategies for maintenance of a holistic approach and care as well as compassion
are important in the provision of care towards my patients.
I should consider the satisfaction of my patient’s as well. According to the studies
done by Markouris the measurement of the patient’s satisfaction can also be considered as an
imporant therapeutic intervention and it can be considered as an important criteria for the
evaluation s well as making the administrative and organisational decisions regarding the
patients. Often patient’s satisfaction gains more importance owing to the various natures of
nursing, and judging the quality of the services of the hospital which is often based on the
perceptions of the type of nursing and support received by the patient (Jahromi and
Ramezanli,2014). From the following responses for the patient a proper plan of action can be
formulated which will allow me to make up for the shortcoming enhancing my skills
involving interpersonal development along with provision of effective treatment plan through

8REFLECTIVE ESSAY
the establishment of a proper therapeutic relationship. Thus, I will develop the skills of
allowing the patient to interact and ask permission before interrogating them. My
communications skills are weak in terms of asking the patient to answer and check if they
have understood my ways of teaching. Thus I will follow a holistic approach and put the
desires of the patient before mine. I will act with the patients according to their age the
requirements vary from person to person. This way I will be able to increase my skills in
interpersonal development thus, allowing enhancement of my personal skills as a nurse.

9REFLECTIVE ESSAY
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