Self-Reflection on Effective Communication in Nursing

Running Header: Therapeutic communication. 1
Self-Reflection on effective communication.
Institutional affiliation
Course title
Student name.

Therapeutic communication 2
Introduction
This is a reflection essay on my professional communication. The reflection will be
focused on a two twenty minutes’ communication interactions. A self-analysis tool will be used
to breakdown the interactions. It will help in analyzing the key communication skills. These will
enable me to identify both my positive and negative attributes in communication. there will be an
explanation on how to improve my communication skills so as to develop myself in the
profession. Relevant nursing communication theories will be used as support evidences on
effective communication skills. An action plan on how to improve and develop my
communication skills will be developed. The essay should demonstrate the following: one, the
importance of effective communication in the patient assessment. Two, the current policies and
practices in the health care sector on communication. Three, demonstrate patient centered care.
show an understanding of the patients need. Four, should demonstrate awareness of my
limitations and strengthens in communication and its development. Five, the essay should
demonstrate that I have an understanding of the importance of developing a professional
behavior and conduct through effective communication strategies. Discuss on the nurse-patient
relationship. There will be a conclusion to summarize all the above.
Self-Reflection 2
Reflection of my communication/interaction with PD. She is elderly with dementia. The
tool T was used to analyze my communication and the interpersonal essential skills. One, I was
able to create a good rapport with the patient. I was able to convey empathy, warmth,
genuineness and positivity which made her develop trust in me. Two, I was able to communicate
fluently with the patient. I used the appropriate tone and pace considering that the patient had
dementia and was elderly. Three, on reflection, paraphrasing and clarification I did not perform

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accordingly. My skills on reflection, clarification and paraphrasing are inadequate. This led to
missing important information from the patient. Four, I was empathetic to the patient’s
condition/situation. This made me to be sensitive to her responses, emotions and feelings. Five, I
was able to act accordingly to the communication cues she hinted to me. For example, at some
point the patient started answering my questions with one word answers. She also didn’t answer
some questions. This was an indication of either she wanted to terminate the communication or
she wanted to change the direction of the questions I was asking. Six, I was able to use the
summary reflection so as to mark the end of the communication. I also allowed the client to give
me feedback on their point of view. Seven, the patient was old and had dementia, therefore, her
level of concentration was lowered, she had memory impairment and also due to her age she has
physical discomfort. These are barriers to effective communication. I ensured I removed them
by: ensuring she was comfortable and making the conversation interesting and short. From the
above reflection it is clear that I need to improve on my reflection, paraphrasing and clarification
and also on active listening. My strengths were seen in verbal fluency, empathy, being sensitive
and in overcoming barriers in communication.
Self-reflection 2
The second reflection on my communication and interpersonal essential skills will be
analyzed from the interactions I had with patient MW. A pregnant teenager with HIV. Being a
pregnant teenager is faced with a lot of stigma and challenges and adding HIV on top makes it
even worse. Using the tool T the following information was obtained. One, I was able to create a

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good rapport with the client. It was not easy. At first she was reluctant to talk to me but after
identifying myself to her and to her condition she conversed with me. I was able to create a
positive and unconditional positive regard with a lot of genuineness, empathy and warmth. Two,
I used the correct tone and pace while talking to her. I did not judge or condemn her. this made it
easier for her to open up to me. I was verbally fluent which made communication so easy. Three,
on the active listening, it was inadequate. I got distracted most of the time which made me loose
so important information. Four, I had insufficient skills on reflection, clarification and
paraphrasing. This prevented me from digging deeper to get more information. Five, I was
empathetic, this made me sensitive while interacting with her. Six, just as mentioned above I was
able to know when she doesn’t want to talk about certain topics and also when she wanted to
terminated the conversation. For example, in some instants, she remained reluctant to answer my
questions. This was an indication that she was not comfortable with the line of the questions.
This made me change the direction of the questions. Seven, I used summary reflection to
conclude the communication. this ensured that the client received a feedback on their point of
views. Eight, our communication faced no barriers as I ensured that the client was physically
comfortable. From the above it is clear that I need to improve on my active listening and the
reflection, clarifications and paraphrasing skills. It is also clear that I am verbally fluent,
empathetic and sensitive. It is also clear that I can overcome communication barriers and I can be
able to use summary reflection to conclude my conversation.
Communication in nursing.
De Vito (2011) defines human communication as a set that consist both sending and
receiving of non-verbal and verbal messages between two or more persons. Balzert-Riley (2011)
defined communication as a reciprocal process in which the messages are sent and received