An Examination of Communication Issues in Healthcare Setting

This essay examines various communication issues prevalent in healthcare settings, highlighting their impact on patient care and overall service delivery. It identifies problems such as the failure to notify outpatient specialists of crucial patient information, oversharing of patient data, language barriers leading to misdiagnosis, inadequate discussion of patient care goals, and a lack of collaboration among healthcare providers. The essay emphasizes that communication is a fundamental tool for effective healthcare delivery and that addressing these issues is crucial for improving patient satisfaction and ensuring the provision of quality healthcare services. Proper communication between care providers and patients, as well as among the care providers themselves, is deemed essential for minimizing errors, enhancing patient safety, and fostering a more collaborative and patient-centered healthcare environment. The solution is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

Running head: COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE SETTING 1
Communication Issues in Healthcare Setting
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE SETTING 2
Communication Issues in Healthcare Setting
It is important to note that communication impacts every aspect or facet of healthcare.
Communication is a fundamental element in healthcare because without communication it is
impossible to know customers’ needs as well as how best to provide care. Workplace cultures,
leadership, and teamwork are all affected by communication (Small et al., 2015). Therefore,
communication failure is associated with poor patient experience or satisfaction, workforce
performance, and poor service delivery.
The healthcare system experiences different communication issues including failure by
the nurses to notify outpatient health specialists of crucial patient information. This results in
difficulties when providing outpatient services because the care providers may not be having full
information in regards to the patient, therefore, leading to readmission. Secondly, oversharing is
also another critical communication issue in the healthcare setting (O'hagan et al., 2014). Many
of the care providers disclose patients’ information to most of the care providers thus infringing
the rights of the patient including right to confidentiality, safety as well as security. It is vital to
note medical information should only be shared to authorized persons, however, many care
providers do not abide by this standard or principle.
Thirdly, language barrier is another communicating issue in most of the hospital. Many
patients are unable to provide full due to lack of common language between the care provider
and them. Notably, this may occur to due cultural differences and diverse ethnicity or ethnical
background. Lack of a common language can result in misdiagnosis and improper treatment due
to inadequate information for decision-making. An existence in a difference in the language
spoken means an effective communication cannot take place because even non-verbal
communication in various cultures may have distinct interpretation.

COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE SETTING 3
Fourthly, inadequate discussion of a patient’s care goal is also another serious
communication problem in the healthcare sector. Some patients also fail to give full information
to the care providers, for example, because of the nurse’s failure to establish a good rapport or
relationship with the patient or due to lack of communication skills from the care providers
(Small et al., 2015). Lack of good rapport would automatically result in insufficient for physical
examination and diagnosis.
Another communication issue in healthcare industry includes misdiagnosis. For example,
a surgeon can conduct or perform a wrong operation due to misinformation from the nurse, for
instance, as a result of paper work. Finally, lack of proper collaboration and cooperation between
the care providers also lead to critical communication issue. This can lead to poor service
delivery and lack of patient satisfaction.
In conclusion, communication is the only tool for service delivery in the healthcare
setting. Therefore, there should be proper communication between the care provider and patients
as well as between the care providers themselves. Effective communication is largely significant
in the provision of quality health care and patient satisfaction services.

COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN HEALTHCARE SETTING 4
References
O'hagan, S., Manias, E., Elder, C., Pill, J., Woodward‐Kron, R., McNamara, T., ... & 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), 1344-1355.
Small, J., Chan, S. M., Drance, E., Globerman, J., Hulko, W., O’Connor, D., ... & Ho, L. (2015).
Verbal and nonverbal indicators of quality of communication between care staff and
residents in ethnoculturally and linguistically diverse long-term care settings. Journal of
cross-cultural gerontology, 30(3), 285-304.