Effective Communication in Healthcare

This nursing assignment focuses on the crucial role of effective communication in healthcare settings. It presents a case study involving Mrs. Forks, a patient discharged with incorrect medication due to communication lapses. The assignment analyzes this situation, highlighting the consequences of poor communication and proposing solutions like implementing evidence-based tools like SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) for improved patient care.

Running head: NURSING INTERACTIONS
Nursing interactions
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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NURSING INTERACTIONS
Introduction
Communication skills are crucial in the process of implementing effective nursing
practices. A transparent and effective course of communication helps in understanding the
patient dilemma. Additionally, some of the therapeutic communication approaches provides
the patient with sufficient autonomy in invoicing their individual opinions regarding the care
services (Gausvik et al. 2015). It is one of the pivotal aspects of establishment of patient care
approach where the patients are placed at the centre of the support and care services. The
assignment explores the affectivity of communication skills in delivery of enhanced care and
support services.
1.
 In this respect, Mrs. Forks is a lady admitted to the hospital with hypertension and has
received normal reports for most of her medical tests conducted. However, during my
interaction with Ms. Forks I found her muttering to herself. She has overheard the
conversations between me and a fellow nurse and that we were wishing that she
leaves soon as there is more number of patients than hospital beds.
 In order to meet Ms. Forks’ needs I should have in the first place consulted the
general physician attending to her.
Therefore, in case if any future discrepancy in relating to Ms. Forks’ condition I will
consult the healthcare professional and the attending to her as well as the staff nurse
in charge of her care so that they could help me understand the treatment plans used
with her so far.

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NURSING INTERACTIONS
 Yes, I think I should taken initiatives to clear the misunderstanding of Ms. Forks by
explaining it to her that we were only discussing the conditions of the ward as felt
equally responsible and committed towards her care need.
 I think I need to excel my time management skill as I provided too little time in my
interactions with Ms. Forks. Some of my interactions could have been more detailed.
As commented by Lum et al. (2015), maintaining transparency in communication can
provide the patient with more autonomy in decision making.
 No. I don’t think I did not reflect much on the information collected for taking
supportive sessions of Ms. Forks as I totally missed that Ms. Forks has movement
disabilities and could not drive herself to the attending physician for routine check up
two times a week.
 Yes, I think I respond to cues from Ms. Forks appropriately.
2.
 During my interaction with Ms. Fork I found that she is an 82 year old woman living
on own without any family and children. However, she had been admitted to the
hospital with complain of hypertension. Though, she has received nil or no
abnormality in most of her medical records. However, she needs to be under constant
treatment and supervision. During my interaction with her I have found that though
she is deaf. However she lacks sufficient amount of consciousness with regards to the
medications. The major issue though highlighted by her over here is difficulty in
walking which could make visiting the chamber of the general physician two times a
week difficult for her.

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NURSING INTERACTIONS
 A very simple consultation method has been used by me for dealing with the case
scenario of Ms. Forks that is by simply taking down notes.
 As a nurse attending to the support care of Ms. Forks I have been actively using
health information related to Ms. Forks for important health decisions.
 Effective team negotiation and networking is required in order to collect important
cues regarding the patient (Brand et al. 2015). In this respect, I was mainly dependent
upon the datasheets provided to me. However, in order to extend after discharge care
services to the patient I would need to negotiate with the home care organization as
well as her doctor for scheduling future appointments.
 I think I was quick in negotiating with Ms. Forks, though I should have put more
effort into knowing the medications subscribed to the patient. This is because it would
have otherwise lead to serious health implications as Ms. Forks was provided with
wrong medications.
3. In order to prioritise the care regimen of Ms. Forks I need to reflect upon her present health
condition in details. I also need to consult with a number other channels such as doctors and
home care organizations. Thus, conducting a comprehensive assessment will help me reflect
upon the loopholes in Ms. Forks. Additionally, use evidence based communication tools such
as SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) for understanding the
problem situation faced by the patient could also be an effective measure (O'hagan et al.
2014). It will also facilitate the handover process.
For effectively managing my time for the care of Ms. Forks I need to divide my task into top
priority and mid priority basis. This will help me in looking after the care concerns of the
patient.

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NURSING INTERACTIONS
4. I think I should have done my research well before I could interact with Ms. Forks. I felt
in certain areas I could have been more proactive while dealing with the patient. For instance,
the wrong medications being provided to Ms. Forks would have totally missed my mind had
she not pointed it. Therefore, I will need to be more careful from next time onwards. I think
insufficient communication between the members of the care team employed to look after
Ms. Forks would have resulted in falsification of the identification of the patient.
5. Nursing entry in the progress notes
PROGRESS NOTES
Date Nursing Entry: APIE framework
Assessment (A)- the patient showed normal reports which were all marked
NAD (no abnormally detected)
Planning (P)- the patient was supposed to attend routine check up two times
a week
Implementation (I)- the home care organization professional was
supposed to drive the patient to the doctor’s chamber provided here
movement difficulties
Evaluation (E) - the patient would need to undergo a blood test for doing
her lipid profile which will help in understanding her recovery rates

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NURSING INTERACTIONS
Conclusion
The current assignment focuses on the aspect of implementation of effective
communication approaches within a healthcare setup for understanding the problem situation
of the patient. In this respect, the patient though on her discharge was providing with wrong
medications. Therefore, such as negligence on the part of the healthcare providers could have
serious consequence. Therefore, implementation of effective evidence based communication
tools such as SBAR could help in the addressing the different health parameters.

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References
Brand, S.I., Slee, K.M., Chang, Y.H., Cheng, M.R., Lipinski, C.A., Arnold, R.R. and Traub,
S.J., 2015. Team strategies and tools to enhance performance and patient safety training: The
effect of training on both nursing staff perceptions regarding physician behaviors and patient
satisfaction scores in the ED. Journal of Hospital Administration, 4(2), p.48.
Gausvik, C., Lautar, A., Miller, L., Pallerla, H. and Schlaudecker, J., 2015. Structured nursing
communication on interdisciplinary acute care teams improves perceptions of safety,
efficiency, understanding of care plan and teamwork as well as job satisfaction. Journal of
multidisciplinary healthcare, 8, p.33.
Lum, L., Dowedoff, P., Bradley, P., Kerekes, J. and Valeo, A., 2015. Challenges in oral
communication for internationally educated nurses. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 26(1),
pp.83-91.
O'hagan, S., Manias, E., Elder, C., Pill, J., Woodward‐Kron, R., McNamara, T., Webb, G.
and McColl, G., 2014. What counts as effective communication in nursing? Evidence from
nurse educators' and clinicians' feedback on nurse interactions with simulated
patients. Journal of advanced nursing, 70(6), pp.1344-1355.