CNA150: Film Analysis & Reflection on Effective Communication in WIT

This report analyzes the film "WIT" to examine the nuances of effective and ineffective communication within the context of nursing and patient care. Part 1 of the report dissects the portrayal of communication styles, drawing on the film's narrative to highlight instances of both therapeutic and detrimental interactions between nurses and the patient, Vivian Bearing. The analysis incorporates relevant literature to support the observations, emphasizing the importance of verbal and nonverbal communication in establishing a strong nurse-patient relationship. Part 2 presents a personal reflection on the insights gained from the film, identifying gaps in knowledge and skills, and proposing strategies for improvement in future practice. The report also includes a discussion on the ethical considerations and security aspects of effective communication in nursing. The essay underscores the significance of patient-centered care and the critical role of communication in enhancing the quality of patient care. The report concludes by suggesting the need for training programs to improve nurses' communication skills, particularly when dealing with patients with disabilities.

Running Head: WIT
WIT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Part 1 (1000)
The aim of the essay is to conduct an analysis of the factors of effective
communication and how the aspects of the effectiveness in a communication can assists in
the development of the relationship between the nurse and the patient through the movie
WIT. The course of the discussion would draw upon the film to consider the aspect of ethics
and security in terms of the effective communication.
In the scenario of Nursing, effective communication remains at a pivotal point.
Though the importance of the effective communication has been undervalued, it needs to be
considered that the implication of effective care in terms of the nursing can be realized to
provide the care that is keep the patient in the center as well as enhance the quality of the
patient care. The effective communication in nurse patient care is considered for its aesthetic
values as the communication requires the patient to invest in their presence of mind in order
to enhance the effectiveness and make the process patient centric (Bentley, 2016).
The effective communication in terms of nursing relies highly upon the human
interaction while the implication of the effective communication from the scientific
perspective can be noted for its usage of the techniques and tools in order to bring out the
effectiveness in communication. As such, the mode of the effective communication in
nursing can involve both the usage of verbal as well as nonverbal methods in order to bring
out the effectiveness in communication (Cutcliff, 2015).
The following section of the essay discusses the communication and the effectiveness
that has been derived out of it in its dealing in the film the WIT. The movie WIT that has
been released in the year 2001 was directed Mike Nicols. The movie revolves around the
character of Vivian Bearing who has been admitted in the hospital, being diagnosed with the
fourth stage of the Overian Cancer. However, she had been convinced by Harvey in order to

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undergo a phase of 8 month based experimental treatment where the treatment of her would
make effective contribution in the domain of the cancer treatment. However, the physicians
who were involved in her treatment carried out ineffective communication by asking same
monotonous questions on the loop. As such the phrase, ‘How are you feeling today’ kept on
returning to her in frequent succession. Thus, the repetition of the same phrase evoked a
sense of dismal in her disposition. She became apprehensive of the feeling that when she dies
she would not be able to hear the phrase again in her life. Thus, Vivian voices her feeling as
her stay in the isolation of the room where she was forced to stay the remaining days of her
life in gloom and monotony (DeLaune, 2016).
The monotony of her life was caught in the middle of the hospital and her conditioned
reply of fine to the phrase of ‘How was your day?’ The approach to the patient was more of a
daily greeting instead of a response gathering process. Because of the mode of the
communication the impact of the question did not reach the patient the way it was intend to
be. The response of the patient was not encouraged in order to derive the desired mode of
response (Faguy, 2012).
However, the other side of the scenario reflects the effective communication on the
part of the Nurse Susie where the she had exhibited a therapeutic relationship in her
communication with Vivian. In stead of a regular question of monotonous nature, Susie
engages with Vivian in her communication along with her greetings early in the morning.
The conversation that they engage in brings about differences in the way they interact. Her
communication does not involve verbal elements but brings together body language and the
tone of her communication in its dealings. The bodily contact along with the tone of the
communication has contributed in brining about the effectiveness in communication. The
discussion they engages in is an honest one where the physical touch of the patient is crucial
for enhancing the connect between the patient and the nurse. By maintaining the eye contact,

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the patient is instilled with a sense of engagement and thereby enhance the effectiveness of
communication (Hogan & Brashers, 2015).
The importance of the nurses in indulging in an effective communication is noted in
the interpersonal care with the intellectual ability and the skills that they possess in terms of
their dealings with the patients can be noted from the implication of the same. The
importance of the human interaction is important because of the human communication is
crucial for their existence as a social being. As such, it is required for the humans to extend
their care for the others (Lees, Proctor & Fassett, 2014).
The journey of the patient in the hospital can be a monotonous one and require the
intervention of the nurses in an effective way in order to bring about compassion and
empathy in the communication. According to the response of the National institution of
health where the communication has been provided with extreme importance in terms of the
patient care. The intervention of the nurses in terms of the patient care in noted for the
treatment that they execute and the therapy that they exhibit (Levett-Jones, 2014).
The nurse care is propagated through the skills of the nurses specific to the need of
the patients. The implication of the communication in nursing is noted in the sharing of
feelings and thoughts and information (McCormack, 2015).
Therefore, in order to extend an effective care towards the patients an understanding
of the patient and their experience needs to be taken in consideration in order to bring out the
effectiveness in communication. The nurses need to adopt communication skills as a part of
their nursing training in order to bring out the effectiveness of the patient care that they aim
at. The communication is multidirectional in nature and needs to be considered in its
complete affect in order to bring about effectiveness. It is not only verbal through which the

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communication takes place but also include a nonverbal mode in its dealing (Arnold &
Boggs, 2019)
Part 2
i. Learning from the movie
This section of the article is concerned with the dealing with providing a reflection to the
aspect of the effective communication in terms of the patient care. The analysis of the movie
has elucidated how the communication can be mitigated in two different ways in order to
derive different forms of result in the way of communication. The movie has elucidated the
fact that the mode of communication and the nature of interaction allows the execution of
effective communication (McCormack, 2015).
What I have felt in the course of discussion is that in order to bring out effective
communication it is needed of the nurse in order bring out the effectiveness in
communication, The analysis in my opinion is even more import in order to relieve the
patients from the stress and the trauma that they are going through (Thistlethwaite et al.,
2013). The implication of the verbal communication is mediated through the facial
expression and different gestures and postures that they need to undertake in order to bring
out the effectiveness in communication (Stein-Parbury, 2009).
The initial point of care between the nurse and the patients is crucial in order to mediate
effective communication. As such it has enhanced my understanding of the effectiveness of
the communication should be taken through the entire process of the care that the patients
undergoes (Bramhall, 2014). However, it has been noted in the course of the discussion that
the initial care that had been extended to the patient had been ineffective because of the lack
of the personal touch in the patient care. The patient who receive unadulterated

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communication can reveal their problem in an increased way. The implication of time is also
crucial in bringing about the effectiveness in communication (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou,
2014).
ii. The gap in the effective communication
However, the gap that has been revealed in the course of the discussion is related to the
people who tend to suffer from certain disabilities and as such, they requires even more care
as compared to the patients without disabilities (Silva et al., 2014). The movie had escaped
the scope of discussion the care that needs to be extended to the people with disabilities. In
my opinion discussion needs to be commenced how effective communication and therapeutic
care needs to be extended towards the patient?
The movie has elucidated that there has been a disjuncture in the kind of care that has been
exhibited. It seems that the personal touch in terms of patient care has been removed by the
extreme professionalism.
iii) Suggestion
It can be suggested that in the cases of the patients with disabilities extensive care can be
extended in order to bring about effectiveness in communication in order to extend
therapeutic effect in terms of the communication (Richardson, Percy & Hughes, 2015). The
people suffering from disabilities tend to suffer greater extend of depression and psychic
crisis in relevance to their health care service. As such, in order to cater to the need of the
patients the nurse and the medical professionals needs to improve upon the non-verbal
communication and hint upon the visual cues in order to extend the care is demanded by
them. The effectiveness can also be provided by the usage of physical touches in order to
instill in them a sense of trust.

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It can also be suggested that the committee for training the nurses in order to extend effective
communication should be set up in order to assist the nurses in order to extend patient
specific care. The patient specific care should be the concern of the entire faculty of the
nursing institution.

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