Case Study: Analyzing Effective Communication with George Pham

This case study analyzes the importance of effective nurse-patient communication in fostering therapeutic relationships and improving patient outcomes, using the case of George Pham. The assignment emphasizes the significance of patient-centered care, where the nurse prioritizes the patient's unique needs and concerns, such as Pham's alcohol consumption and smoking habits. Effective communication, encompassing both verbal and non-verbal skills, is highlighted as crucial for exploring patient issues, satisfying their needs, and empowering them to take an active role in their health. The study references NMBA standards and various research papers to support the development of tailored nursing care plans, incorporating family involvement and promoting a culture of safety and learning. The conclusion underscores the essential role of communication in creating therapeutic environments and developing interventions that reflect individual patient needs, ultimately aiming to enhance the patient's quality of life.

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Effective Communication- George Pham Case study
Student’s Name
University

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Effective Communication- George Pham Case study
Nurse patient communication is an important element in
clinical assessment since it allows the nurse to create a
therapeutic relationship with the patient to improve quality
outcomes. This is based on the intention of the nurse to
understand the concerns of the patient while at the same time
maintaining a high level of professionalism to achieve the
intended outcomes (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014). This
essay presents the importance of effective nurse communication
in promoting nurse-patient relationships. This will through
assessing the issues presented by George Pham to understand
how effective communication can lead to achieving the intended
outcomes.
Effective nurse-patient communication is important in
patient-centered care since it allows the nurse to create a
therapeutic relationship that allows exploring the issues within

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the life of the patient. This leads to the ability of the nurse to
apply the principles person centered care where the focus is
exploiting the issues within the life of Pham. Effective
communication has been regarded as a foundation of good
nursing care that seeks to improve the quality of life of the
patient and clinical outcomes (Hill, Hall, & Glew, 2017).
Person-centered care is a care process that is designed based on
the unique needs of the patient that are supposed to form the
basis of any care plan. As seen in the case of George Pham, the
nurse is supposed to work towards exploiting the issues within
his life lie drinking of alcohol, which seems to be affecting his
quality of life. In person-centered care, the patient is supposed to
be put first, meaning that the care approach chosen by the nurse
should focus on the issues within the life of the patient (Fite,
Assefa, Demissie, & Belachew, 2019). In this case, effective
communication will be used to explore the issues within the life

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of the patient to understand the issues with his life that affect the
quality of life. Through effective communication, the nurse will
easily explore these issues and develop a care plan that reflects
the nature of life that George Pham leads.
Another element of effective nurse-patient communication
is its ability to satisfy the innate needs of the patient. NMBA
(2016) standard 2.3 suggests that the nurse is supposed to
recognize that patients are experts of their own lives and thus the
nursing plans developed are supposed to reflect their unique
needs. From the case, study, Pham has been a heavy smoker and
drinks almost five beers every day. To create a healthy lifestyle,
effective therapeutic communication is used to explore the
issues within the life of the patient to determine how they have
an overall impact on his life. This approach ensures that the
patient takes the lead role in his health and achieving quality of
life. Amoah, et al. (2019) add that the role of therapeutic

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relationships to establish a collaborative environment that allows
the nurse and the patient to work together to explore the issues
that affect the quality of life. By understanding George Pham’s
lifestyle, it becomes easy to foster a culture of safety and
learning. This means that the nurse will use therapeutic
communication to create an environment that allows the patient
to open so that the barriers to quality of life can be explored. The
nurse will explore therapeutic communication techniques like
use of open-ended questions, focusing, exploring, reflecting and
providing leads where necessary to ensure that the patient opens
up and allows the nurse to explore the issues within his life.
The role of effective communication is to create an
environment that allows the nurse to establish a therapeutic
relationship with the patient. This can be achieved through
verbal and non-verbal communication patterns that allow the
nurse to connect with the patient. O’Hagan, et al. (2014) suggest

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that the nurse can use verbal communication skills like
maintaining professional discussions, tone variations, asking
relevant questions, active listening and documentation of
information for assessment and decision making. Non-verbal
skills like maintaining eye contact and showing empathy can be
used to get close to the patient and explore the issues that are
affecting his health and quality of life. Effective communication
has been described as having the ability to satisfy the patient's
needs since it allows the nurse to explore the physiological and
biological issues within the hierarchy that affect the quality of
life.
Effective therapeutic relationship and communication also
needs to be explored by exploring the family members of Pham.
This includes defining the role of his daughter and grandchildren
in assisting Pham to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Through equal
sharing of information, Hill, Hall, & Glew (2017) suggests that

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the nurse assists the patient and the family members to explore
the values within family setting that affect the quality of life of
the patient. Since George Pham has been leading an unhealthy
lifestyle, then the focus of effective therapeutic communication
is to empower the patient with life skills that can be used to
overcome the health barriers in his life (Vertino, 2014). This
means the focus of the is to apply the requirements of NMBA
standard 5.2 to collaboratively develop a nursing plan with
priorities, goals, actions, and outcomes that reflect the unique
needs of the patient (NMBA, 2016). This will allows George
Pham to lead a healthy lifestyle and improve his quality of life.
In conclusion, the essay has demonstrated the importance
of effective nurse-patient communication and how it can be used
to form therapeutic relationships that form the basis of the
nursing intervention. It is thus important to understand the
importance of patient-centered care and its ability to lead to the

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development of nursing care plans that reflect the individual
needs for the patient.

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References
Amoah, V. M., Anokye, R., Boakye, D. S., Acheampong, E.,
Budu-Ainooson, A., Okyere, E., . . . Afriyie, J. O. (2019).
A qualitative assessment of perceived barriers to effective
therapeutic communication among nurses and patients.
BMC Nursing, 18(4).
Fite, R. O., Assefa, M., Demissie, A., & Belachew, T. (2019).
Predictors of therapeutic communication between nurses
and hospitalized patients. Heliyon, 5(10).
Kourkouta, L., & Papathanasiou, I. V. (2014). Communication
in Nursing Practice. Materia socio-medica, 26(1), 65–67.
NMBA. (2016). Registered nurse standards. Retrieved from
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
O’Hagan, S., Manias, E., Elder, C., Pill, J., Woodward-Kron, R.,
McNamara, T., . . . McColl, G. (2014). What counts as

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effective communication in nursing? Evidence from nurse
educators’ and clinicians’ feedback on nurse interactions
with simulated patients. Journal of Advanced Nursing,
70(6), 1344–135.
Vertino, K. A. (2014). Effective Interpersonal Communication:
A Practical Guide to Improve Your Life. The Online Journl
of Issues in Nursimng, 19(3).
Zivanovic, D., & Ciric, Z. (2017). Therapeutic Communication
in Health Care. SciFed Nursing & Healthcare Journal,
1(2).