This article discusses the different communication issues in healthcare settings, including language barriers, misdiagnosis, and inadequate discussion of patient care goals. Effective communication is crucial for quality healthcare and patient satisfaction.
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Running head: COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE SETTING1 Communication Issues in Healthcare Setting Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation
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COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE SETTING2 Communication Issues in Healthcare Setting It is important to note that communication impacts every aspect or facet of healthcare. Communication is a fundamental element in healthcare because without communication it is impossible to know customers’ needs as well as how best to provide care. Workplace cultures, leadership, and teamwork are all affected by communication (Small et al., 2015). Therefore, communication failure is associated with poor patient experience or satisfaction, workforce performance, and poor service delivery. The healthcare system experiences different communication issues including failure by the nurses to notify outpatient health specialists of crucial patient information. This results in difficulties when providing outpatient services because the care providers may not be having full information in regards to the patient, therefore, leading to readmission. Secondly, oversharing is also another critical communication issue in the healthcare setting (O'hagan et al., 2014). Many of the care providers disclose patients’ information to most of the care providers thus infringing the rights of the patient including right to confidentiality, safety as well as security. It is vital to note medical information should only be shared to authorized persons, however, many care providers do not abide by this standard or principle. Thirdly, language barrier is another communicating issue in most of the hospital. Many patients are unable to provide full due to lack of common language between the care provider and them. Notably, this may occur to due cultural differences and diverse ethnicity or ethnical background. Lack of a common language can result in misdiagnosis and improper treatment due to inadequate information for decision-making. An existence in a difference in the language spoken means an effective communication cannot take place because even non-verbal communication in various cultures may have distinct interpretation.
COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE SETTING3 Fourthly, inadequate discussion of a patient’s care goal is also another serious communication problem in the healthcare sector. Some patients also fail to give full information to the care providers, for example, because of the nurse’s failure to establish a good rapport or relationship with the patient or due to lack of communication skills from the care providers (Small et al., 2015). Lack of good rapport would automatically result in insufficient for physical examination and diagnosis. Another communication issue in healthcare industry includes misdiagnosis. For example, a surgeon can conduct or perform a wrong operation due to misinformation from the nurse, for instance, as a result of paper work. Finally, lack of proper collaboration and cooperation between the care providers also lead to critical communication issue. This can lead to poor service delivery and lack of patient satisfaction. In conclusion, communication is the only tool for service delivery in the healthcare setting. Therefore, there should be proper communication between the care provider and patients as well as between the care providers themselves. Effective communication is largely significant in the provision of quality health care and patient satisfaction services.
COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE SETTING4 References O'hagan, S., Manias, E., Elder, C., Pill, J., Woodward‐Kron, R., McNamara, T., ... & McColl, G. (2014). What counts as effective communication in nursing? Evidence from nurse educators' and clinicians' feedback on nurse interactions with simulated patients. Journal of advanced nursing, 70(6), 1344-1355. Small, J., Chan, S. M., Drance, E., Globerman, J., Hulko, W., O’Connor, D., ... & Ho, L. (2015). Verbal and nonverbal indicators of quality of communication between care staff and residents in ethnoculturally and linguistically diverse long-term care settings. Journal of cross-cultural gerontology, 30(3), 285-304.