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Professional communication is an essential skill for all nurses to provide holistic and high-quality care. Productive communication skills enable nurses to focus on a patient’s needs, developing therapeutic links to provide safe patient outcomes. The development of nurse-patient relationships where patients disclose information allows nurses to accurately assess and diagnose patients to plan and implement appropriate interventions. Furthermore, the case study of George Pham, a 73-year-old male, will be used to illustrate the relevance of professional communication in nursing practice and its importance for holistic and high-quality care. The essay will explore the three concepts of verbal and non-verbal communication skills, person-centred care and effective documentation illustrating how professional communication is critical for cultivating therapeutic relationships and patient safety. Effective communication skills, verbally or non-verbally, is crucial towards patient safety and therapeutic nurse-patient relationships. Verbal communication refers to the involvement of words where it can be either written or spoken. Whereas non-verbal communication are ways individuals communicate without using language through gestures such as waving or sign language (Levett-Jones, 2019, pp. 196-211). Effective nurse-patient communication through sharing information helps promote a therapeutic link assisting nurses to understand the patient’s preferences regarding their environment (Conroy et al., 2017, pp. 53). This creates a shared understanding for
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the nurse and enables the patient to feel safe and trust in the care that is provided. Evidently, nurses can state that the information being disclosed is confidential, creating trust between the patient and healthcare team. By doing this, nurses demonstrate “professional values such as respectfulness, responsiveness, compassion, trustworthiness and integrity” (ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses, 2012). Mr Pham being born in Vietnam can create a language barrier; hence, nurses should assess the level of understanding to determine his need for an interpreter due to English being his second language. Cultural diversity influences nurses to be spiritually and culturally sensitive ensuring that individuals receive culturally appropriate, safe and holistic care (Buchanan et al., 2020, pp. 196-211).Hence,this degree of self-awareness creates an environment of trust between nurse and patient where individuals feel safe to share their spiritual needs. Standard 2.2 delineates a nurse’s obligations to effectively communicate in a tone and attitude where a patient’s dignity, culture, values, beliefs and rights is valued (The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia [NMBA], 2016). Subsequently, nurses should enquire about Mr Pham’s diet when learning that he is a Buddhist as not “all Buddhists are vegetarians” (HuffPost, 2017). In relation to the case study, an appropriate touch of hand when talking about his wife’s death illustrates a sign of empathy. Overall, verbal and non- verbal communication delineates the therapeutic links and holistic care, supporting individuals physical, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing alongside their mental health needs.
Person-centred care reflects an individual’s preferences, values and needs that are identified and agreed upon creating a therapeutic relationship and a safe patient outcome. Person-centred care according to Levett-Jones (2020, pp. 7), takes into consideration the patient and their next of kin at the centre of decisions in relation to their health and wellbeing. It is a holistic approach where nurses seek to understand the patient’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs promoting a therapeutic link and a better quality of life. Hence, a therapeutic nurse-patient link is established when the relationship is used to foster or restore the well-being of the patient (Hill et al., 2017). Within person-centred care, the patient is placed at the centre of their own care, necessitating empowerment by enabling individuals involved within the relationship to engage in the informed decision making (Aw & Drury, 2021, pp. 1304-1329). Accordingly, Standard 3.2 of the registered nurse standards of practice delineates a nurse’s duty to provide the information and education essential for the patient to decide their overall plan of care (NMBA, 2016). In regard to the case study, when assessing Mr Pham, nurses can identify that he is a heavy smoker and drinker following an unhealthy lifestyle practice, smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 42 years and drinking three to five beers a day. Evidently, nurses can educate and advise Mr Pham on the health risks and different forms of support such as Quit helpline or AA meetings for a more productive healthy lifestyle. Consequently, professional communication implemented around the model of
patient-centred care is vital towards the development of a safe, holistic, therapeutic care. Effective nursingdocumentation is vital for safe, quality care that is essential for effective communication between nurses and health professionals for appropriate delivery of care promoting patient safety. Hill et al. (2017) defines effective documentation as an accurately written or electronically generated legal record of all pertinent interactions with the patient that describes the care and services provided. It is a healthcare professionals’ obligation to provide accurate, clear and succinct documentation to ensure effective communication and thereby maintain a patient’s physical safety in providing therapeutic care (O’Toole, 2020). Thus, nurses must consistently and accurately document their observations and any risk assessments undertaken to ensure a patient’s physical safety. By doing this, nurses are able to appropriately evaluate the effectiveness of the plan of care whilst developing a therapeutic relationship (Conroy et al., 2017, pp. 53). Consequently, Standard 1.6 of the NMBA indicates that nurses must “maintain accurate, comprehensive and timely documentation of assessments, planning, decision-making, actions and evaluations” (2016). Accordingly, the information provided in the health assessment in relation to Mr Pham’s case study enables nurses to assess and identify health problems and therefore, implement an effective and holistic plan of care. Consequently, the working phase during an interview provides comprehensive
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documentation to implement and improve the patient’s standard of care. Evidently, professional communication implemented through effective documentation is vital for promoting patient safety and development of therapeutic nurse-patient relationships via appropriate delivery of care. Overall, this essay explored how critical effective communication, verbally or non-verbally, is towards patient safety. Communication between nurse and patient builds a therapeutic relationship, allowing nurses to effectively implement a plan of care to ensure patient safety. Person-centred care enables nurses to focus on the needs of the patient to achieve a safe, holistic, quality care, strengthening the therapeutic link between nurse and patient. Hence, effective communication allows nurses to accurately document, therefore, enhancing a patient’s overall health and wellbeing through safe, therapeutic care. Consequently, effective nurse-patient communication is an essential skill for all nurses to develop with therapeutic nurse-patient relationships to ensure high-quality care and patient safety. This is indicated in Mr. Pham’s case study where the essay explored how significant productive communication is towards verbal and non-verbal communication skills, person-centred care and effective documentation.
References: Alderman, J., Boucaut, R., Conroy, T., Feo, R. & Kitson, A. (2017). Role of effective nurse-patient relationships in enhancing patient safety.Nursing Standard (2014+),31(49), 53. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/10.7748/ns.2017.e10801 Aw, A.T. & Drury, V.B. (2021). Nursing care: Chronic illness and disability. In Koutoukidis, G. & Stainton, K (Eds.),Tabbner’s nursing care(8th ed., pp. 1304- 1329). Elsevier Australia. https://www-clinicalkey-com-au.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/nursing/#!/content/book/3- s2.0-B9780729543361000504?scrollTo=%23hl0001653 Buchanan, H., Gilligan, C. & Outram, S. (2020). Communicating with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In Levett-Jones, T. (Ed.), Critical conversations for patient safety(pp. 196-211). Pearson Australia. Hill, R., Hall, H., & Glew, P. (Eds.).Fundamentals of nursing and midwifery: A person- centred approach to care(3rd Australian and New Zealand ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Pty Ltd.
International Council of Nurses (ICN). (2012) The ICN Code of Ethics for nurses [PDF]. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/ Professional-standards.aspx Levett-Jones, T. (2020). The relationship between communication and patient safety. In T. Levett-Jones (Ed.),Critical conversations for patient safety: An essential guide for healthcare students(2nd ed., pp. 7). Pearson Australia Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2016).Registered nurse standards for practice.https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines- Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx O’Toole, G. (2020). Documentation: ‘One-way’ professional healthcare communication. In O’Toole, G. (Eds.),Communication(4th ed., pp. 312-330). Elsevier Australia. https://www-clinicalkey-com-au.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/nursing/#!/content/book/3- s2.0-B9780729543255000302?scrollTo=%23hl0000086 Richard, M. (2017, September 24). Are Buddhists Vegetarian?. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/are-buddhists- vegetarians_b_59c7c589e4b0f2df5e83af35