Literacy and Communication in Healthcare

This essay discusses the importance of literacy and communication in healthcare, focusing on patient-centered care, conflict management, and nursing handover tools. It explores the ineffective handling of a communication scenario and provides recommendations for applying these concepts in practice. The essay emphasizes the role of effective communication in improving patient outcomes.

Running head: LITERACY AND COMMUNICATION IN HEALTHCARE
LITERACY AND COMMUNICATION IN HEALTH CARE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION IN HEALTH CARE
Introduction
As observed from scenario 2, a situation of conflict and miscommunication has occurred
between the nursing student and the Assistant in Nursing (AIN) after distress in the patient
during showering. The following essay will evaluate the same with the thesis statement:
Adequate adherence to nursing concepts, communication frameworks and nursing tools, such as
patent centered care, conflict management and resolution framework and nursing ISOBAR tool
will in the management of clinical conflict situations and result in healthy therapeutic
relationships between the nurse-patient as well as between two nurses of varying competencies.
The essay will identify the major nursing concepts, communication frameworks and nursing
tools, discuss on the ineffectiveness of the chosen communication scenario and outline on the
application of the chosen concepts.
Identification of the Concepts, Communication Framework and Nursing Tool
The clinical communication and literacy concepts chosen will comprise of patient
centered care, the conflict management and resolution framework and the nursing handover tool
of ISOBAR. The nursing concept of patient centered care implies the nursing practice of
encouraging the patient to participate directly in the deciding the care plan as per their disease
conditions and hence, necessitates the inclusion of the patients opinions, preferences, interest and
views by the nurse. Patient centered care is relevant to this scenario since the practice of
obtaining permission and understanding the opinions of the elderly patient for her self-cleaning
activities by the nursing student, would have prevented a conflict situation of patient agitation
(Garvey, Hurley & Kushner, 2016).. The communication of conflict management frameworks
necessitates the adherence to a ‘win-win’ situation where the nurse must ensure that both parties

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are benefitted by the situation, by empathetic consideration of competency levels, learning styles,
emotional intelligence and the 5P’s of people, perceptions, policies, practices and persistence.
Hence, following a conflict management framework where the nursing student and the AIN
empathized, understood, patiently engaged in interpersonal communication and engaged
collaborative to fulfill the needs of the patient would have resulted in positive outcomes of both
the patient as well as the nurse feeling satisfied with the care provided (Foster et al. 2015). The
nursing handover tool of ISOBAR, implies nursing incorporation of concepts of identifying
oneself and the patient characteristics, the present clinical situation, the background details
relevant for consideration, assessment of the situation and future recommendations. Its relevance
lies in its ability to allow the nurse to undertake effective clinical decisions, and hence, its usage
could have allowed the nursing student to understand the patient needs and perform her shower
accordingly (Beament et al., 2018).
The suitability of patient centered care lies in its ability to allow nurses to perform
nursing care plan practices as per the personal opinions and needs of the patient. However, it
often hinders the autonomy of nurses to perform evidence based practice which often goes
against the interests of the patient (Brédart et al., 2018). A conflict management framework is
beneficial since it helps in effectively resolving adverse situations by ensuring that every patient
and professional is benefitted equality. However, lack of interpersonal understanding may hinder
conflict resolution as can be seen in the AIN believing students to be incompetent (McKibben,
2017). The ISOBAR tool aids in nursing practice as per the patient clinical condition but requires
significant expertise and time to master my newly transitioned nurses or students (Bakon et al.,
2017).

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Analysis of the Communication Scenario
The lack of usage of patient centered care and the lack of adequate interactive and
transactional communication between the nurses are key areas which highlight ineffective
handling and communication. Patient centered care involves engaging the concerned patient in
their treatment and allowing him or her to provide key insights and opinions on the care
provides, which the nurse and associated health professionals must consider. Adequate
engagement in patient centered care yields positive outcomes, allowing the patient to feel
comfortable and secure in the clinical environment (Regueiro et al., 2016). Hence, if the nursing
student performed patient centered care, then she could have made the patient feel at ease,
respected and dignified Not attempting to obtain consent was an ineffective act resulting in
patient distress as examined by Spatz, Krumholz and Moulton (2016). It can also be observed
that there seemed to be a lack of adequate communication between the nursing student and the
AIN. Being in possession of judgments without empathy, makes communication difficult and
conflict as observed in the worsening of the situation when the AIN refused to understand the
student’s difficulty and considered her to be incompetent (Williams, Ilten & Bower, 2016).
Additionally, the nursing student also practiced ineffective communication by not enquiring
beforehand from the assigned AIN on the needs of the patient. Engagement in transactional and
interactive communication between the nurses would have prevented this conflict, since the lack
of it results in the emergence of misunderstandings, misperceptions and difficulty to maintain
positive professional relationships (Barmlund, 2017) .

4LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION IN HEALTH CARE
Application of Concepts, Communication Framework and Nursing Communication Tools
The chosen second case scenario can be managed effectively using the nursing concept of
patient centered care, the communication framework of conflict management framework and the
nursing tool of ISOBAR handover.
The usage of patient centered care necessitates nurses to allow patients to participate in
the nursing process by including the personal and unique needs of the patients in their care plan
(Clarke, 2016). Hence, for applying the concept of patient centered care the nursing student must
first take permission from the patient, and ask her concerning her opinion or needs for care and
hygiene which she would like the student to consider. Additionally, the nursing student can also
enquire from the allocated AIN on any information regarding techniques of hygiene, care or
showering particular to the patient which the nursing student must consider. Application of this
concept, would lead to the patient considering the health organization to be trustworthy, and
feeling respected, dignified and cared for (Narva, Norton & Boulware, 2016).
The application of conflict management framework would require the nursing student to
engage in emotional intelligence and understand the attitude of the patient and AIN as per their
medical condition or pressures associated with the workplace (Crowne et al., 2017). Further,
applying a conflict management framework would require the nurse to use a framework of 5 Ps
– where perceptions of the patient on the care expectations, the competencies of the people
working, the usage of adequate nursing practices such as patient centered care, the adherence to
organizational policy frameworks of patient quality and persistence of prioritizing patient needs
first increased of nursing competencies differences must be considered. This would result in
‘best of both world’ or ‘win-win’ situation, where both the nurses will be able to adhere to the

5LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION IN HEALTH CARE
patient needs collaboratively as well as ensure that the patient is feeling content and comforted in
the clinical situation (Ghislieri et al, 2017).
For applying the nursing handover tool of ISOBAR, the nursing student, will first be
requiring to identify her responsibilities, the AIN’s responsibilities and the unique
neurocognitive needs of the patient, evaluate the current situation of patient self care and hygiene
needs, understand the relevance of patient consent and care needs in the background of distress,
assess the reasons which may cause conflict or disturbance in patient’s perception of safety
during showering and recommend herself or know from the AIN as to what must be considered
as per patient’s clinical condition and needs (Long, 2016). Application of the ISOBAR tool
would have enlightened the nursing student on the patient’s condition and ensure positive health
outcomes through self care consideration accordingly (Stewart, 2016).
Conclusion
To conclude, scenario 2 can be managed effectively my following patient centered care,
conflict management framework and the nursing ISOBAR tool. Hence, the nursing student must
obtain consent from the patient and know her showering needs, coupled with collaborative
assistance from the AIN during a situation of distress using conflict management framework of 5
P’s and emotional intelligence and lastly, engage in formulating a handover using the ISOBAR
tool to effectively prevent conflict and ensure positive patient outcomes.

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