Effective Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication Strategies for Nurses

This presentation discusses the most effective verbal and non-verbal communication strategies for nurses to ensure effective patient care and transition. It also explores the use of grief and loss communication framework in patient care.

Mr. Burnum
Perkins’ Case
Name
Institutional Affiliation

Introduction
• The audience for this essay is the nurse.
• This is a nurse who wants to know the most effective verbal and
non-verbal written communication strategies to adopt to make sure
the readers fathom the present patient care status and the future
transition care of patient into Aged Care Facility (ACF).
• The nurse further wants to explain and justify how he would utilize
loss and grief communication framework for framing upcoming
transition of the grieving patient into ACF.

Effective Verbal and Non-Verbal
Written Communication Strategies
• Communication remains a human, interactive process which sends certain meaning, message,
information, emotions and beliefs from a person to another or to a group of individuals.
• Interrelationships and connected between and among the people take place as a result of
communication occurrence.
• Various forms of communication exists.
• It can take place via spoken words, written word, and body language alongside gestures that are oral,
written, and non-verbal communications (Basinger, Wehrman & McAninch, 2016).
• It remains imperative that constituents of every kind of communication are efficient and effective for
communication to take place and be effective.
• In the case of Mr. Burnum Perkins, the nurse has adopted therapeutic communication strategies to give
client support.
• She has adopted such techniques as, silence, focusing, active-listening utilizing open-ended queries,
exploring, reflecting, clarification, and offering self among other therapeutic communication strategies.

Effective Verbal and Non-Verbal Written
Communication Strategies Cont.
• Attentive and Active Listening strategy was adopted by the nurse as it is an
indispensable portion of communication.
• It is beyond hearing alongside attentive listening goes past merely being silent
while listening (Arnold & Boggs, 2019).
• Active-attentive listening is never a passive task since it encompass:
• The nurse’s hearing, processing alongside purposefully understanding the words of
Mr. Burnum Perkins’ words alongside processing such words in setting of his
scenario alongside non-verbal communication which client sends as he orally
express certain message to the nurse (Nielsen et al., 2017).
• Attentive and Active Listening strategy was adopted by the nurse as it is an
essential part of communication.

Effective Verbal and Non-Verbal Written
Communication Strategies Cont.
• Silence to listening was also adopted by the nurse as a purposeful active course
instead of a passive procedure.
• Both the client alongside the nurse took advantage of transitory pauses of silence
thinking and reflecting on comprehensive connotation of message and anticipate as
well as reflecting on how to react to a message with desired feedback..
• It was helpful as the nurse wanted to give Mr. Burnum Perkins enough time to
openly and completely discuss their opinions, feelings and beliefs.
• Nonetheless, lasting silence might be interpreted by Mr. Burnum Perkins as a lack
of interest on part of nurse so silence to stay therapeutic, have to be suitable
period thus it does not negatively influence the client ad therapeutic nurse-patient
relationship.

Effective Verbal and Non-Verbal Written
Communication Strategies Cont.
• This nurse used effective non-verbal communication.
• For example, eye contact, suitable facial expression, touch, handshakes, hugs which
communicated the care, concern, compassion which is essential to nurse profession.
• The nurse used a sincere handshake with his her eye contact, good listening skills
as well as able to communicate details without sounding extremely businesslike
which proved critical during Mr. Burnum Perkins crisis.
• Her use of visual (eye contact, posture, body language) alongside vocal (speech rate
and voice tone) effectively supported and softened the grim details.
• Her effective body positioning and posture proved successful (Meichsner,
Schinköthe & Wilz, 2016).

Using Grief and Loss Communication Framework
• Coping alongside coping mechanisms to grief can differ significantly among
people.
• As a nurse, I am aware that such a coping is influenced by several variables
and forces like:
• A person’s cultural, religious, and spiritual background, the client’s previous
experiences with losses, level of growth and development of an individual.
• These influence a person’s death and loss perception like a lack of
understanding regarding death finality, a person’s social support level
alongside interpersonal relationships, ethnicity, socioeconomic, perception of
the client severity and gravity of loss (Fan & Taylor, 2016). ).

Using Grief and Loss
Communication Framework Cont.
• Grief and loss communication framework is effective in helping Mr.
Burnum Perkins transition effectively into the Aged Care Facility (ACF).
• This is because it will help understanding the language of grief and loss
which assist nurse understand the needs of the client and address them
effectively.
• This framework is justifiable since it helps the nurse to understand the
modes of expression of the patient.
• A nurse must understand the expression of the grieving person to devise
ways of helping him cope with the grief and loss (Nielsen et al., 2017).

Using Grief and Loss
Communication Framework Cont.
• This framework will make the nurse be aware of the verbal responses (oral or
written), nonverbal responses (reflective or silent); physical responses (expressions
or somatic); as well as physical activities (objects or rituals) used by Mr. Burnum to
help him cope in the ACF in the future (Arnold & Boggs, 2019).
• The bereaved always express his grief through various spoken languages with
some having no direct translation.
• The nurses has to use this framework to understand Mr. Burnum’s non-verbal,
physical and verbal responses as well as physical activities to understand how the
patient expresses his grief and loss.
• Such an understanding is required to ensure that the patient is helped to cope well.

Using Grief and Loss
Communication Framework Cont.
• Another justification for the use of grief and loss communication
framework is that it helps a nurse understand the types of
language used by the bereaved.
• These language include narrative or storytelling, metaphor or
figurative, symbolism or representation and analysis or
concretization (Weber & Farrell, 2016).
• Understanding the types of language will help Mr. Burnum
transition well since the nurse will get to understand issues or
concerns of the bereaved and devise best ways to help him cope.

Conclusion
• This paper has shown the most effective non-verbal and
verbal written communication strategies a nurse would
use to make sure that the readers understand the current
care status and future transition care of Mr. Burnum.
• The discussion has also explained and justified how a
nurse would use grief and loss communication framework
to frame Mr. Burnum’s future into ACF.

References
• Arnold, E. C., & Boggs, K. U. (2019). Interpersonal Relationships E-Book: Professional Communication Skills for
Nurses. Saunders, 12(1), 12-45.
• Basinger, E. D., Wehrman, E. C., & McAninch, K. G. (2016). Grief communication and privacy rules: Examining the
communication of individuals bereaved by the death of a family member. Journal of Family Communication, 16(4),
285-302.
• Fan, C. W., & Taylor, R. (2016). Quality of a Theory-Based Assessment to Measure Therapeutic Communication
Styles During Rehabilitation. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 70(4_Supplement_1), 7011500070p1-
7011500070p1.
• Meichsner, F., Schinköthe, D., & Wilz, G. (2016). Managing loss and change: grief interventions for dementia
caregivers in a CBT-based trial. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias®, 31(3), 231-240.
• Nielsen, M. K., Neergaard, M. A., Jensen, A. B., Vedsted, P., Bro, F., & Guldin, M. B. (2017). Predictors of
complicated grief and depression in bereaved caregivers: a nationwide prospective cohort study. Journal of pain
and symptom management, 53(3), 540-550.
• Weber, K., & Farrell, T. (2016). Developing therapeutic communication skills: Integration of standardized client
simulation in an associate degree nursing program, 11(2), 2-111.