Report on Communication Strategies in Cromwell Hospital for Healthcare

This report delves into the critical role of communication within health and social care organizations, using a case study of Cromwell Hospital to illustrate challenges and potential solutions. It examines various communication theories, including Maslow's and Freud's, and their application in healthcare settings. The report identifies essential communication skills like friendliness, respect, and empathy, and explores methods to enhance interpersonal communication, such as active listening and non-defensive behavior. It also addresses barriers to effective communication, including breaches of confidentiality and cultural differences, and proposes strategies to overcome these, such as non-verbal communication training and the use of language interpreters. Furthermore, it discusses the impact of culture, legislation, and technology on communication processes within the healthcare sector, highlighting the importance of adapting communication strategies to meet diverse patient needs and comply with relevant regulations.

Communicating in Health and
Social Care Organizations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
1.1...........................................................................................................................................1
1.2...........................................................................................................................................2
1.3...........................................................................................................................................3
1.4..........................................................................................................................................4
2.1...........................................................................................................................................7
2.2...........................................................................................................................................8
2.3...........................................................................................................................................9
2.4.........................................................................................................................................10
LO 3...............................................................................................................................................11
3.1.........................................................................................................................................11
3.2.........................................................................................................................................11
3.3.........................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Communication plays an important role in any organisation or sector, communicate may be
defined as exchanging of the ideas or information by speaking, writing or using other medium, it
is the act of conveying meaning from on one person or group to another by using mutually
understood signs, symbols etc (Batterham and et.al., 2016). For health and social care sector it is
important to have an effective communication within an organisation as it has to deal with needy
and sick people who need extra care and support.
This report discusses about the case study of Crowwell hospital in which the doctors and other
staff members is facing problems in communicating with patients and lack the skill of effective
communication. Present report discusses about how communication skills can be used within
health and social care sector and how various factors have an impact on communication process
in an organisation. It will also analyse how communication is influenced by values and cultural
factors (Ginter, Duncan and Swayne., 2018). This report also discusses about the use of
information and communication technology in an organisation, what are the benefits of using
ICT for workers and for the organisation.
LO 1
1.1
Communication theory attempts to explain the source of information, how can a information can
be transmitted, various methods used to convey information and how meaning of a information
is created and shared in an organisation.
Various communication theories that can be applied in Cromwell are as follows:
Humanistic Maslow's Theory
According to this theory Comwell can apply this theory which consists of five tier model of
human needs, and with the help of this model Comwell can meet the needs of patients in the
hospital. As per this theory Cromwell can achieve the following needs in hospital:
Physiological needs- These are the basic needs which has to be met for the patients like food,
water, shelter etc. So it is important for Cromwell to fulfil the psychological needs of patients
which is a basic criteria of satisfying the patients.
Safety needs- Safety is an important factor after fulfilling psychological needs, it is the duty of
staff to provide safety to patients and should make them feel secure in the hospital.
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Love and belongingness needs- Staff has to develop a interpersonal relationship with the patients
and should treat them with love and socially.
Esteem needs- Cromwell should give respect to the patients and should treat them with dignity
and reputation.
Self-actualization needs-Cromwell has make use of all the staff members in the hospital by
exploiting their talents, capabilities and potentials of staff in order to offer better services to
patients.
Freud's Psychodynamic Theory
According to this unconscious can influence the behaviour and experiences even though an
individual is unaware of underlying influences, it can include thoughts, habits, memories desires
and reaction. So the staff members should be provided with an effective training to have control
on their habits emotions, how to have control on situations in order to prevent staff members
from getting affected by their psychological factors.
Cognitive Burner
By applying this theory in the hospital, Cromwell can improve the performance of the staff buy
constructing new ideas or concepts based upon their current or past knowledge and experiences
in order to improve their level of service in the hospital.
1.2
There are various communications skills which can be used by Cromwell in order to improve the
level of communication in the hospital.
With the help of effective communication skills Cromwell can improve the level of satisfaction
of their patients as the staff members lack the effective communication skills how to interact
with patients.
Communication skills which are required are as follows:
Friendliness: It is the most important communication skill which need to be developed by the
staff members of Cromwell hospital. Doctors and nurses need to be friendly with the patients in
order to ease their stress and help them out with the problems. Nurses and doctors should talk to
patients in polite manner and need not to shout on patients.
Respect: Each and every patient should be treated with respect despite of their culture, status,
background, physical conditions etc. It will give an opportunity to serve the patients in effective
way.
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Empathy: Doctors and nurses of Cromwell hospital should be able to understand and share the
feeling of the patients in a hospital and then only they can provide treatment to patients
effectively.
Patience: Patience is a test for staff members of Cromwell hospital, they should have patience to
hear and understand the needs of patients, developing patience will improve their communication
skills in order to communicate with patients.
Open-mindedness: In order to improve communication skills, staff members should be flexible
and open-minded to communicate with patients, staff members should be open to listen and
understand other person's point of view rather than passing a judgement.
Facial expressions: Facial expression also plays an important role in communicating with
patients, staff members of Cromwell should make use of appropriate facial expressions in order
to communicate with patients.
Privacy: Doctors and nurses should touch patients kindly while treating patients or supporting
them. Privacy and dignity of patients should be maintained for both male and female patients.
Gestures: Staff of Cromwell should take of gesture while communicating with patients i.e. they
have to maintain proper body language while communicating with patients.
1.3
Interpersonal communication may be defined as a communication between two persons by
developing a relationship with each other through interaction and simultaneously sharing
influence.
Methods of improving interpersonal skills in Cromwell hospital are as follows:
Do not show negative body language
Staff members of hospital should not negative body to their patients, so they should be very
careful with their body language while communicating with patients.
Staff members should not try to bring any physical barriers between each other as barriers results
in distraction and patients may feel lack of interest from staff members.
Listen Well: An ability to listen well is another method of dealing with inappropriate
communication between interpersonal. Staff members of Cromwell should posses high listening
skills and should be able to understand patient's words more clearly and then react accordingly.
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Do not be defensive: As the staff members of Cromwell were defensive with Mariana, which
resulted into the inappropriate communication from staff members. But Cromwell's employees
should not defensive or overexcited if they are poked by patients but rather should stay calm and
neutral.
Use right communicating method
A communication may not be always be verbal but the staff of Cromwell should be able to
understand that there are different types of situations to be faced in hospital which demand
different methods.
So employees should be able to use right communication method which would be suitable for the
situation.
Barriers of interpersonal communication
Breach of confidentially: when any person breach other person confidentiality and trust it will
results as barrier in interpersonal communication.
Lack of dignity and trust- when any person does not respect dignity and trust of other person it
can lead to barrier in communication.
Misinterpretation- This barrier can occurs due to misinterpreting of language, message, etc. by
its own way.
1.4
Cromwell can use different strategies as per their communication needs in the hospital as
hospital is facing with number of communication skills which lack in staff members or there are
presence of barriers of communication.
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So some strategies which can be implemented in hospital are as follows:
Non-verbal communication
Non-verbal communication is an important component of communication, its includes tone of
voice, making eye contact, quality of voice, paying attention, body position, body movements etc
As Cromwell were not able to understand condition of Mariama as she was not able to
communicate with staff members, but it was not evident to them from her body language what
was she suffering from.
So there is need of providing non-verbal communication training to the staff members of
Cromwell hospital.
Showing respect
Showing respect to somebody which gain respect for individual, people who do not respect each
other is totally impossible to communicate.
So there should be a mark of respect in order to communicate with patients.
As in case Mariama was not respected by staff members and was ignored due to which she also
lost respect for them.
So showing respect will gain respect for the hospital.
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Sign Board and help desk: Cromwell should have help desk within the hospital in order to help
patients and visitors and should also have sign boards which will provide directions in the
hospital.
Language interpreters for patients of diverse culture: Not all the patients will not be able to
speak English well as same was the case with Mariama, doctors and nurses were not able to
understand her language. If staff is not able to understand other language but they can choose
simple words and pronounce them carefully or can watch patient's body language as signs of
understanding due to which Cromwell will be able to serve their patients effectively.
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2.1
Culture is a set of shared values that an individual or group holds and such values effects the
thinking and actions and importantly kind of criteria to judge others (How cultural differences
impact our communication and the way we do business with foreigners, 2013). Culture and
values have an influence on communication process as what an individual is taught affects the
values and that reflects from its behaviour. Interaction between two or more people in
Cromwell's hospital are from different cultural backgrounds have effected their communication
process and were unable to communicate with each other.
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Culture and communication have an influence each other, the culture an individual is socialized
is imparted with different values and socialized differently which influences the way they
communicate with others (Vos and Buckner, 2016). Culture and values shapes the way of
communication more than that anybody can realise, this may be due to people belonging to
different countries, religion, different upbringings, different morals etc. For example as Mariama
belonged to Arab country and she could not speak and understand English and even doctors and
nurses were not able to understand so their communication process was affected by difference in
their backgrounds. Culture and values influences individuals behaviour and one's reaction in a
given situations which is a primary element of communication process. In health and social care
sector, treating patients of different cultures and values is very delicate task cultural difference
may have an impact on the process of treatment, what is custom in one country may be
considered as offensive or rude in other country therefore it is important in hospitality and social
care sector to be aware of other person's culture and values during treatment. In order to
communicate effectively with a people of different culture NHS should use verbal symbols, non
verbal symbols to make their communication effective in an organisation. NHS have to
overcome cross cultural barriers such as language, social class etc.
2.2
Legislation code and charters have a great impact on health and social care sector, safety of the
patients should be prime concern for healthcare and social care sector. There are number of
legislations, codes and cahrters to support health and social care which are intended to protect
people in health and social care. Some of health and safety legislations, codes and charters which
have an impact on health and social care sector are as follows:
Legislation:
Health and safety work act 1974: This act covers the wide range of issues related to health and
safety of patients in hospitals. If any of the law is broken related to health and safety act HSE
holds enforcement power to fine and prison sentences. So the staff members of Cromwell's
hospital have to take care of patients and need to cooperate with patients.
Manual handling operations regulations 1992: Major issue for care providers is to provide
support and mobility to patients with limited mobility. Its is important to respect and maintain
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dignity of their patients and employers have to ensure that employees comply with regulatory
frame work.
Data protection Act 1998: By this act Cromwell has to protect the data of patients in hospital.
Human Rights Act 1998: It is the law that safeguards the rights and freedoms which are
essential fundamental for living. So Crowell has to safeguard the rights of patients.
Access of Records Act 1990: Cromwell has to provide access to healthcare records to person
wishing to access the record of deceased individuals.
Equality Act 2010: Cromwell has to treat every patient equally even they belong from different
nation, culture, backgrounds etc.
Charters
Care quality commission: CQC have an impact on Cromwell hospital as it regulates and
inspects health and social care services in England.
Department of health information charter: Department of health and social care can ask to
hold personal information of patient.
Codes: Social care professionals should be provided with the training of social work in order to
get registered in HCPC.
Patients rights and responsibilities:NHS should treat the patients with courtesy and respect and
staff should understand that patient may get anxious and vulnerable which may affect their
behaviour. NHS hould inform patients about the delays and rescheduling of appointments
2.3
A reputation of health and social care depends up on how effectively they communicate with
patients. For this purpose Cromwell should frame such organisation system and policies which
will help them in improving their practices and building a strong reputation (Jones and Phillips,
2016). There are various strategies and procedures which result in effectiveness of organisational
system and policies in Cromwell hospital such as:
Equality and Diversity policy: With the help of this policy Cromwell can achieve diversity
within the hospital which includes:
Each and every kind of patients receives equal support at their full potential.
Develop friendly nature in the hospital.
Most efficient and productive staff in the hospital resulting in positive outcome.
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Whistle blowing policy: By implementing this policy Cromwell's employee can report concerns
about the improper actions of their colleagues or even about hospital if they are involved in
causing harm to others.
Supervision for employees: With the help of this policy it gives an opportunity for staff to
communicate with their supervisors to discuss any problem, reflect, seek advise or ask questions
(Woolf and et.al., 2015). So with the help of this policy Cromwell can regularly perform
supervision with their staff in order to improve their services.
Equality: It involves treating every patient equally or fairly regardless of age, culture, disability,
race, sexual orientation etc. In order to create balance and equality in the hospital, it should
provide training to staff and needs to be regularly reviewed which will improve effectiveness of
services provide by the hospital.
2.4
In order to improve communication process in Cromwell hospital, it should be able to improve
communication skills of the staff members which may prove effective for hospital's performance
and patient's satisfaction. Cromwell should follow legislation and its policies which have an
effect on their communication process. Before hiring any staff member, they should check their
communication skills, language skills, personality, attitudes etc and other factors which is related
to health and social care services. Cromwell should provide training to staff members in order to
improve their communication skills. Doctors should behave with effective communication skills
in order to treat patients as they are examples for other staff members. Doctors can improve
communication process by sharing their knowledge with nurses and other staff members.
Cromwell should make use of new technology to improve their communication process in the
hospital and should up grade their technologies in order to improve communication process
(Beck and et.al., 2016). Cromwell should introduce front office or help desk which will be
providing required information to patients and visitors which will improve the performance of
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