The Importance of Communication in Nursing

Running head: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN NURSING PRACTICE
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN NURSING PRACTICE
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EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN NURSING PRACTICE
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Kourkouta, L., &Papathanasiou, I. V. (2014). Communication in nursing practice.
Materia socio-medica, 26(1), 65. DOI: 10.5455/msm.2014.26.65-67.
This professional paper outlines the role of communication in healthcare practice,
especially for nursing.It emphasizes the effectiveness of communicative behaviour in nursing
practice to achievea positive outcome of personalized nursing care of individual patients. It
identifies the necessity of teaching communication fundamentals as a part of nursing
education to develop the interpersonal skills of the nurses. The authors initially establish the
requirement of interpersonal, intellectual and technical abilities and skills in exercising the
activities of nursing, such as health interventions, disease prevention and management. They
also describe the different aspects of effective communication associated with the nursing
practice and underline their perspective on each of them. The main areas of the paper lay
down – use of two way verbal communication for nurses in delivering therapy to patients, in
dealing with public health officials, in making an accurate nursing diagnosis and providing
medical advice to the patients. Factors associated with effective communication between
nurses and patients such as listening abilities, honesty and mutual trust and paying attention
to patient's desire are crucial elements recognized in this paper (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou,
2014).
In this context, the authors deduce that in order to maintain the quality of healthcare,
it is indispensable for nurses to develop their interpersonal skills through expert training and
education. This paper is intended towards the budding nurses and trained professionals who
are willing to learn more and explore their maximum potential of caregiving. The authors
successfully establish the benefits of effectively practicing interpersonal skills that can help
mitigate work related errors, increase patient safety and care, and also maintain job
satisfaction in nurses.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN NURSING PRACTICE
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Rosenberg, S., & Gallo-Silver, L. (2011). Therapeutic communication skills and student
nurses in the clinical setting. Teaching and learning in nursing, 6(1), 2-8.
DOI:10.1016/j.teln.2010.05.003.
This paper explores the scope of therapeutic communication as a proficient
professional practice based on compassionand maintaining boundaries to promote
mutualunderstanding and induce a hassle-free experience for both the patient and the care
provider. The primary theme of this article is to investigate the use of adept communication
skills in clinical care management for nurses, especially in critical cases where a patient
presents barriers to optimal treatment and care. The authors focus on the various ways in
which therapeutic communication can be incorporated as a prerequisite in the nursing course
curriculum and practically exercised by student nurses during their learning phase.The
authors suggest a framework for the nursing students to follow, which will help them to
communicate effectively. Through such an approach, they will be able to connect to patients
and perform better with techniques like role play, cognitive or behavioural methods, and
educational tools to interpret limitations to care (Rosenberg & Gallo-Silver, 2011). Applying
this model to impart knowledge of therapeutic communication could benefit the students to
develop their professional adequacy andtake actiontowards a distraught patient,
depersonalizing offensive dialogues, and formulating interpersonal relationships within their
clinical tenure. The authors also identify reflective evaluation as a successful tool to enhance
self-assessment to promote a nurse-patient relationship.
In conclusion, the paper focuses on the importance of empowering student nurses to
become potent communicators and efficient professionals in the future through real-time
teaching methods adopted by nursing educators. In anticipation that they will come across
adversities like ambivalence, despair, and distress throughout their clinical practice, proper
nursing education must enable each of them to develop their style of therapeutic