Literacy and Communication for Healthcare

This essay discusses the importance of literacy and communication in healthcare, focusing on nurse-patient and nurse-nurse conflicts. It explores the concepts of patient-centered care, conflict management, and the AIDET nursing tool. The essay analyzes a scenario of ineffective communication and provides recommendations for improvement.

Running head: LITERACY AND COMMUNICATION FOR HEALTHCARE
LITERACY AND COMMUNICATION FOR HEALTHCARE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1LITERACY AND COMMUNICATION FOR HEALTHCARE
Introduction
This essay will discuss on the thesis statement: Nurse-patients and Nurse-nurse conflicts
in critical healthcare situations can be managed through the adequate nursing conductance of
nursing concepts, communication frameworks and nursing tools such as, patient centered care,
conflict management framework and AIDET nursing tools.
This essay will demonstrate Scenario 2 which reflects a critical clinical situation and
prevalence of ineffective communication which has resulted in conflict between the nursing
student and the patient and Assistant in Nursing (AIN). The first section of the essay will focus
upon patient centered care, the conflict management framework and nursing AIDET tool. The
second section will highlight the key areas reflecting communication ineffectiveness. The third
section will then focus on applying these chosen concepts. Lastly, the essay will conclude with
an overview of the key issues addressed.
Identification of Concepts, Communication Framework and Nursing Tools
The nursing concept of patient centered care, the communication framework of conflict
management and the nursing tool of AIDET will be considered. Patient centered care
encompasses direct involvement of the patient in the decision-making framework of their care
plan process where the nurse must notify herself with the needs, opinions, preferences and
consent from the patient. It is of relevance to this scenario since obtaining consent from the
patient would have prevented the conflicts with the nursing student (Liberati et al., 2015). The
conflict management framework encompasses the use of 5 Ps of perceptions, people, practices,
policies and preferences during a challenging scenario and is of relevance since its utilization

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would have resulted in a win-win situation where both the nursing student and AIN would have
been satisfied with each other and the patient (Johansen & Cadmus, 2016). The nursing AIDET
tool is essential for ensuring positive therapeutic relationships with the patient and is of relevance
since adherence to ‘Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation and Thank You’ principles
would have enlightened the nurse on client needs and also comforted the patient (Allen, Rieck &
Salsbury, 2016).
The suitability of patient centered care lies in its ability to ensure fulfillment of patient
needs and perception of security. It maybe disadvantageous considering that it hinders nursing
autonomy and may not be suitable for comprehension for all patients (Håkansson Eklund et al.,
2019). A conflict management framework is beneficial since it results in healthy nurse-patient
and nurse-nurse collaboration during critical situations. However, a ‘win-win’ may always not be
possible due to nursing competition, misperceptions or lateral bullying (Ibrahim, Mohamed &
EL-Gazar, 2018). The AIDET tool is advantageous in strengthening patient satisfaction but again
may not always be acknowledged by a patient (Varghese, 2017).
Analysis of the Communication Scenario
The communication in this scenario is not effective due to an absence in the usage of
patient centered care by the nursing student and the lack of adequate conflict management and
interpersonal communication between the nursing student and the AIN during the situation of
patient distress while showering. It can be observed that the nursing student engaged in
showering with the patient without obtaining her consent or enquiring about her needs from the
previously allocated AIN. This is an example of ineffective communication since practicing
patient centered care by the nursing student would have enlightened her on the patient’s needs

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and permission and hence, avoided in a stressful situation for the patient (Mohammed et al.,
2016). Further, enquiring about the patient’s needs from the AIN would have enlightened the
nursing student on the require techniques for showering the patient and would have ensured
patient feelings of comfort and security instead of the distress observed in the scenario (Nowaski
et al., 2018). Another key example of ineffective nursing communication is the lack of adequate
interpersonal communication between the nursing student and the AIN. Interpersonal
communication is essential in the prevention of conflicts as well as in the maintenance of healthy
relationships in professional as well as non-professional environments since it removes
communication barriers such as judgment and misperceptions (MacLean et al., 2017). Hence,
instead of judging the nursing student as incompetent and leaving her on her own with the
distressed patient the AIN should have at least empathized with her novel experience in nursing
professionalism and assisted the nursing student in teaching the correct methods of showering.
This would have prevented the ineffective communication conflict between the AIN and nursing
student and resulted in achievement of positive patient health outcomes and healthy inter-
professional relationships (Folse, 2018).
Application of Concepts, Communication Framework and Nursing Communication Tools
Patient centered care encompasses the nursing responsibility of directly involving the
patient in their respective care plan by enquiring actively about the patient’s needs, opinions and
preferences and his/her consent (Feo & Kitson, 2016). Hence, to improve effectiveness in
communication and prevent the patient feeling distressed and scared during showering, the
nursing student should have applied principles of patient centered care which would necessitate
asking the patient for her consent during showering, communicating with her empathy and
enquiring about her comfort (Ross, Todd & Clarke, 2015).

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Interpersonal communication, empathy and patient listening are some of the key
prerequisites in ensuring healthy relationships and prevention of conflict even in the clinical
scenario (Gausvik et al, 2015). For managing a conflict situation of stressed, fearful and
aggressive patient during showering, the nursing student and the AIN could have applied a
conflict management framework of five 5, that is, perceptions, people, practices, policies and
persistence (Başoğul & Özgür, 2016). Firstly, the nursing student and AIN must first work on
their misperceptions about their individual competencies and engage in interpersonal
communication and empathy to understand each other’s views without judgment and work
collectively towards patient treatment. Secondly, both of them should have considered the
characteristics of the ‘people’ or patient’s age and disease condition and question and work
collaboratively considering the cognitive inabilities of the patient. Thirdly, the conflict was
required to be managed by ‘practicing’ patient centered care and gentle persuasion to calm the
patient. Fourthly, establishment and adherence to a conflict management framework or policy is
essential to standardize and redirect nursing practice and could have avoided the observed
communication conflict. Lastly, both the nursing student and the AIN should have focused on the
immediate intervention of patient comfort assurance instead of highlighting differences in
competencies. An application of such a conflict management framework would have resulted in
a ‘win-win’ situation where the patient and the nursing parties would have been satisfied in the
deliverance of care (Baddar, Salem & Villagracia, 2016).
The maintenance of satisfactory nurse-patient relationships and the fulfillment of patient
satisfaction, are the hallmarks of effective clinical communication (Alasad, Tabar & AbuRuz,
2015). Hence, to ensure long term patient satisfaction and comfort, the nursing student should
have adhered to the AIDET nursing tool. This would include: acknowledging and greeting the

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aged patient by her name when entering, the nursing student introducing herself, providing
duration details and explaining the showering process and importance followed by obtaining
consent and thanking the patient and her family. This would have made the patient in question
feel dignified, respected, secured and comforted prior to showering (Barber, 2018).
Conclusion
To conclude, this essay proves the thesis statement that adherence to key nursing
concepts, tools and communication frameworks will aid in resolution of conflict and
improvement of professional and patient relationships. The chosen scenario of patient distress
and hindered nursing partnerships concerning patient hygiene can be managed through nursing
student’s usage of patient centered approach for obtaining consent, adherence to a 5 P conflict
management framework to prevent AIN-student conflicts and performance of the AIDET tool to
ensure patient satisfaction. To conclude, this essay provided key insights on learning essential
communication framework and tool usage in critical healthcare scenarios.

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