Communication for Health Professionals: Models and Effectiveness

This presentation delves into the crucial role of communication in healthcare, emphasizing the transmission of messages between healthcare professionals and patients. It highlights the importance of interpersonal communication skills for nurses and physicians in delivering effective healthcare services. The presentation contrasts the communication effectiveness of doctors and nurses, examining the barriers they face and the communication models they employ, such as the linear model used by doctors and the transactional model used by nurses. It advocates for the transactional model as the most effective due to its interactive and therapeutic nature, fostering patient involvement and enhancing the quality of service delivery. The presentation concludes by referencing key literature on doctor-patient communication.

COMMUNICATION FOR
HEALTH
PROFESSIONALS
Name
Institution

Introduction
 Communication is the transmission of
message from one person to the other
 The message may be thoughts, opinion,
feelings, facts, feedback, etc.
 Communication can be verbal or non-verbal
 Communication is essential in healthcare
 Nurses and physicians must possess
excellent interpersonal communication skills
 Communication is key to healthcare service-
delivery

The Doctor’s
Communication
Effectiveness
 Communication interactive
 Patient given time to participate and
respond to questions (Ong, De Haes,
Hoos & Lammes, 1995).
Barriers
 Little time availed for communication
 Harsh and scary tone used
 Patient deprived enough chance to
respond

Nurse’s Communication
Effectiveness
 ISBAR structure used in communication
 Patient given enough time to respond
 Communication interactive (Chapanis,
1975).
Barriers
 Communication not empathetic-No
empathy displayed by the nurse

Models of Communication used
Doctor
Linear model
 Information flowing from one direction
 Doctor dominates the discussion
 Patient contributes, but not much
Nurse
Transactional Model
 Communication flowed from both directions
 Patient and nurse actively involved
 No one dominated the discussion

Transaction-Most Effective
Model
 It is interactive
 It is therapeutic
 It involves all in a discussion
 No party dominates
 Creates a favorable environment for all
 Satisfies the patients-involved in decision
 Enhances quality service-delivery

References
Ong, L. M., De Haes, J. C., Hoos, A. M., &
Lammes, F. B. (1995). Doctor-patient
communication: a review of the
literature. Social science &
medicine, 40(7), 903-918.
Chapanis, A. (1975). Interactive human
communication. Scientific
American, 232(3), 36-46.