Assignment on Impact of Therapeutic Communication

Running head: NURSING COMMUNICATION
IMPACT OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

IMPACT OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION1
Communication is an effective approach to delivering person-centred care to patients
and their families. According to Sherko, Soitri, and Lika (2013), therapeutic communication
is an effective approach that helps patients in better understanding of their health status. The
communication can be done with the help of verbal along with nonverbal communication.
Communication can be defined as an act of interchanging any information from a person to
another (Asani et al. 2017). Thus, communication involves the sender, receiver, along with
crucial information. Most of the patients are in pain and confused about their illness and lack
of information regarding their health status. Thus, communication is important and relevant
to reduce the confusion among the patients and helps in understanding their health by
providing relevant information (Last, R., 2015). Therapeutic communication is consistent in
building an effective relationship with patients and their families as the healthcare
organization is continuously evolving with new techniques and treatment procedures (Elmi et
al. 2018). This essay intends to examine the influence of therapeutic communication in
delivering effective person-centred care and safety in any healthcare setting.
I worked in a public hospital as a registered nurse. It was the responsibility of mine to
educate the patients and provide relevant information about their treatment. In addition to
this, I was also administrating their treatment. Patients undergo major trauma and pain, and
therefore, it is essential to connect or build a relationship in their entire journey of receiving
treatment. Therapeutic relations with the patients and their families are very much crucial,
and it can only be achieved by effective communication or adopting communication
strategies (Coyne 2015). As individuals or patients who visit hospitals are culturally diverse,
the healthcare settings often provide person-centred care to increase the efficacy of care. As
per the guidelines of Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au (2020), our healthcare settings have
benchmarked effective communication by respecting the dignity, rights, beliefs, and values of
every patient. With every possible outlines and protocol, I have encountered many barriers in

IMPACT OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION2
building rapport with the patients' such as language barrier, cultural competence, and unable
to deliver any bad news effectively. Sometimes, due to time constraints, the nurses often do
not give open-handed questions for understanding their history or personal issues for the
effective delivery of person-centred care. The language is the major barrier as multiple
diverse people population is filled in Australia. According to Ministers.treasury.gov.au
(2020), England, New Zealand, China, and India were the major four countries that live in
Australia that increases the diversity and results in language barriers. Australia is filled with
multiple languages speaking people. Therefore, it is very much essential to overcome these
barriers with effective strategies and procedures for improving communication. Effective
communication would help in delivering person-centred care and increase safety, along with
health outcomes.
I have experienced that communicating and active listening helped in understanding
the patients and also improve in building relationships along with gaining trust. The
communication needs to be two-way; it would help the patients in making any decisions and
takes part in sharing their thoughts during the recovery or treatment procedures (Warnecke
2014). The person-centred care is care that allows the healthcare settings to create an
environment for sufficient quality by delivering care based on the patient's preferences or
reorienting the model of care. This model would allow the nurses to take the information of
patients such as their age, location, previous histories, and related issues that would help in
developing person-centred care among the patients. The complex communication such as
false communication or providing hope may lead to reducing therapeutic communication.
False communication is providing false hope, such as related to pain and promising the
patients that he or she would be fine without confirming their health status (Cheng 2017). All
these factors lead to poor communication, and it needs to be reduced for improving health
outcomes.

IMPACT OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION3
Implementing communication strategies and communication theories are essential for
improving therapeutic communication. The children or adults with hearing issues, vision
issues, speech, language, and cognitive impairment are the most vulnerable groups, and
therefore, they need unique or complex communication. Communication tools such as visual
displays and speech generating devices are the most effective approach for patients who have
hearing or vision-related health issues. According to Blackstone and Pressman (2016), in
France, the hospital has developed a Tri-fold kit for emergency rooms. This tool has been
implemented in every emergency room for delivering effective communication. Another
approach can be providing the writing materials to the patients. Either patients or nurses can
write the necessary information and helps in effective communication. Moreover, with the
help of any communication device, the nurses can ask a close handed question to understand
the health of their patients. The language has also become a barrier as Australian is filled
with multiple languages speaking people, and to overcome this, keeping an interpreter is
important. The patients who could not communicate due to the language are at higher risks
for receiving any clinical interactions and information. Therefore, the interpreter plays a vital
role in delivering relevant information to the patients about their clinical procedures or
treatment or their health issues. Sometimes, interpreter tends to provide vast information at
one instance which makes the patients more confuse and increase their anxiety levels (van
Rosse et al. 2016). Thus, it is advisable to hire a professional interpreter for effective
communication
The cancer patients need emotional support as their emotions while receiving the
treatments can be either sad, anxious, or filled with anger. For delivering patient-centred care
during such circumstances, nursing professionals need to adopt any effective communication
theory or model. According to Granek et al. (2013), many oncologists have felt difficulties in
communicating with the patients regarding their end of life. However, they need to