The Significance of Professional Communication in Nursing Practice

This essay delves into the critical role of professional communication in nursing practice, emphasizing its impact on patient safety and the development of therapeutic nurse-patient relationships. The essay explores three key concepts: verbal and non-verbal communication skills, person-centred care, and effective documentation. It uses the case study of George Pham to illustrate the practical application of these concepts. The discussion highlights how effective communication, including sensitivity to cultural and linguistic diversity, fosters trust and enables nurses to accurately assess and diagnose patients, leading to the planning and implementation of appropriate interventions. Furthermore, the essay emphasizes how person-centred care empowers patients and promotes a holistic approach to care, while effective documentation ensures clear communication among healthcare professionals and supports the delivery of safe, quality care. The conclusion reinforces the essential nature of effective nurse-patient communication for achieving high-quality care and patient safety.

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

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 nursing documentation 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

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:
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