Analysis of Interpersonal Skills for Patient Interviews in Nursing

This report delves into the critical role of interpersonal communication skills in establishing a strong nurse-patient relationship, crucial for improved patient outcomes. The analysis focuses on three key skills: active listening, empathy, and nonverbal communication. Active listening involves fully grasping both verbal and nonverbal cues to understand the patient's needs and concerns, fostering a sense of attentiveness and care. Empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, is highlighted as a key factor in building trust and creating a supportive environment where patients feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings. The report also emphasizes the importance of nonverbal communication, including body language, eye contact, and facial expressions, to convey care, support, and reassurance, particularly when a patient's condition may impact their ability to communicate effectively. The author plans to apply these strategies during a patient interview to facilitate effective engagement and improve the quality of care. References from various studies are used to support the analysis.

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Introduction
Interpersonal communication occurs when there is a face-to-face exchange of ideas, emotions,
feelings and thoughts between two or more individuals. In the course of our day to day life, we
have to engage in communication and interaction with other people. Hence, interpersonal
communication skills help in making communication pleasant and smooth. Use of effective
interpersonal techniques is important for establishing relationships and forming connections.
This article aims to analyse a self-reflection of interpersonal skills that I will incorporate while
interviewing a patient during the week three tutorial.
Active listening
Active listening is an interpersonal communication skill that incorporates an understanding of the
message that is being communicated and engaging with the speaker. By being an active listener,
one is capable of providing more accurate and thoughtful responses. An active listener will avoid
behaviours that may result in distraction while conversing with others. This can mean closing or
putting away things like mobile devices and laptops while asking and answering questions when
prompted and also while listening (Okoro, Washington and Thomas, 2017). As a nurse, I will
employ active listening when conducting the interview by fully grasping what a patient is
communicating through both nonverbal aspects like body language and verbal and observing the
patient emotional condition. Complete concentration especially while conducting a nursing
assessment is significant. Nurses ought to listen attentively and use nonverbal and verbal
aspects to provide encouragement to the patient. This will help the patient to open up on his/her
symptoms and the conditions surrounding him/her. This is important because it will bring

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satisfaction to the patient since he/she will feel that I am paying attention to his/her needs
(Jahromi et al., 2016).
Empathy
To be empathetic means that someone is capable of identifying and understanding other
individuals emotional state. Being empathetic portrays that someone is caring and hence supports
in establishing a trusting patient-nurse relationship (Reynolds, 2017). A nurse can demonstrate
empathy through the following aspects; spending an extra minute with the patient, making and
maintaining eye contact, showing support, putting herself/himself in the patient’s shoes, clearly
understanding personal details of the patient and regularly acquiring patient feedback on how the
nurse is doing. These aspects will reframe the nurse’s interaction with the patient and also
enable the patient to develop a sense of feeling that the nurse truly care.
Moreover, portraying empathy support in creating an environment where all patients feel
comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings and being treated seriously by the nurse
promotes a sense of sell worth and critical thinking (Kee et al., 2018). This is because
demonstrating empathy is an important part of forming effective communication. I will ensure
that I show empathy to the patient through the use of both nonverbal (offering a piece of tissue in
case the patient cries) and verbal cues (Using words like “I understand”). Beyond being
empathetic to the patient feelings, I will make sure I validate the patient’s perception by helping
him/her understand that their emotions are reasonable and natural. Also, I will offer reassurance
that his/her problems are being understood and will be fully addressed (Pazar, Demiralp and
Erer, 2017).
Nonverbal communication

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Nonverbal communication skill is essential while conducting an interview with a patient.
Sometimes the condition that the patient is experiencing may alter how the patient hears,
processes and responds during an interview. This is the main reason why a nurse ought to adapt
nonverbal communication skills that can help in matching the patient’s communication abilities.
Nonverbal techniques include gestures, body posture and movement, and eye contact, but it can
also incorporate aspects like vocalisations, repetitive movement of the extremities and facial
expressions. Nonverbal communication techniques are essential since they help in conveying a
sense of care, support, empathy, reassurance and warmth. It also gives the patient the idea of how
the nurse is interested in the provision of care (Hall, Horgan and Murphy, 2019). I will ensure
that I employ nonverbal techniques by being in tune with the patient’s nonverbal communication
such as eye contact, facial expression and posture. Understanding and reading these nonverbal
cues will help me in understanding the patient full. Also, I will be capable of applying nonverbal
techniques like mirroring the patient’s position and use therapeutic contact like placing my hand
on the patient’s arm; this can help in further augmenting the interview (Karnieli-Miller et al.,
2018).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is evident from the article that interpersonal communication skills are essential
in establishing a quality nurse-patient relationship. Some of the skills as discussed in the article
include active listening, nonverbal communication techniques and empathy. Adoption of these
strategies greatly helps in improving the health outcomes of the patient. During my interview, I
am planning to use these strategies so that I can have effective engagement with the patient.

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References
Hall, J.A., Horgan, T.G. and Murphy, N.A., 2019. Nonverbal communication. Annual review of
psychology, 70, pp.271-294.
Jahromi, V.K., Tabatabaee, S.S., Abdar, Z.E. and Rajabi, M., 2016. Active listening: The key of
successful communication in hospital managers. Electronic physician, 8(3), p.2123.
Karnieli-Miller, O., Michael, K., Segal, O. and Steinberger, A., 2018. Assessing an intervention
focused on enhancing interpersonal communication skills and humor: a multi-method quasi-
experiential study among medical students. Health communication, 33(12), pp.1560-1572.
Kee, J.W., Khoo, H.S., Lim, I. and Koh, M.Y., 2018. Communication skills in patient-doctor
interactions: learning from patient complaints. Health Professions Education, 4(2), pp.97-106.
Okoro, E., Washington, M.C. and Thomas, O., 2017. The impact of interpersonal communication
skills on organisational effectiveness and social self-efficacy: A synthesis. International Journal
of Language and Linguistics, 4(3), pp.28-32.
Pazar, B., Demiralp, M. and Erer, İ., 2017. The communication skills and the empathic tendency
levels of nursing students: A cross-sectional study. Contemporary nurse, 53(3), pp.368-377.
Reynolds, W.J., 2017. Empathy is crucial to helping. In The Measurement and Development of
Empathy in Nursing (pp. 17-29). Routledge.

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