NS5003 Literature Review: Impact of Poor Communication on Patients

This literature review, submitted for the NS5003 module at the University of East London, explores the impact of poor communication on patient care. The student outlines their search strategy, including search terms and articles retrieved. The review is structured with an introduction, discussion of the effects of poor communication (including medical errors, long wait times, and poor decision-making), and a conclusion. The student analyzes the process of communication, drawing on several sources to highlight how communication breakdowns can negatively affect patient outcomes and the delivery of care. The review emphasizes the importance of clear communication between healthcare professionals and patients to prevent errors and improve patient safety. The student's work provides a critical analysis of the literature, illustrating the significance of effective communication in healthcare settings and its direct impact on patient well-being. The review concludes by reiterating the need to address poor communication to enhance patient care and reduce adverse outcomes.

NS 5003: Understanding and Applying Research and
Evidence to Nursing Practice
LITERATURE REVIEW PLAN
Name: ………………………………….………. Student No: ……………
Topic of Choice…Effect of poor communication on patient care
Search History…I have tried to search library indexes. Apart from that I have made an effort
to contact different authors through emails on their ideas on effect of
poor communication to patients.
Search Words…I have used different phrases to ensure I get divergent views some of the
words and phrase include communication in healthcare, how nurses
communicate with patients, impact of poor communication to
patients.
Articles to Date… So far I have managed to retrieve fifteen search articles in the field of
communication with patients. Many of my articles appear to be
quantitative articles, however, there are five of them that are
qualitative.

Headings… my literature review will incorporate the following subheadings:
 Introduction
 Effect of poor Communication during patient care
 Conclusion
Paragraph: analysed the process of communication using multiple sources and critique the
ideas contributed by the authors.
Introduction
Communication refers to the act of passing a message from one individual to another. In
health sector communication takes various forms. These forms include oral and written

communication. However, poor communication is where by the sender and the receiver of the
health information do not understand each other.in this scenario it is the nurse and the patient
on care. Poor communication during patient care have caused several disaster in the
healthcare sector (Curtis et al, 2016:p.155). The goal of this literature review assignment is to
elaborate various authors’ ideas concerning the impact of poor communication during patient
care. In the upcoming subsections, the assignment will compare and contrast what author’s
about poor communication in healthcare sector especially during patient care.
Effect of poor communication during patient care.
Like any other sector, poor communication always result to troubles while serving clients.
Consequently, in the nursing sector these problems are serious because they are concerned
with the well-being of human beings. For example, when a nurse is doing a medical
prescription and later diagnoses the patient in care, there should be no room for errors.
However, when there is poor communication, the nurse cannot evade making an error. One of
the main effect of poor communication during care of a patient is the diagnosis and medical
mistakes (Scotten et al, 2015:p.898). In the process of caring a patient, different medical
professions will serve the client. There is always a need to coordinate the communication
between the doctors for example nurses, doctors and other staff members. When one of these
people lacks adequate information to perform diagnosis, the doctor will run to a medical
error. The doctor may be lacking the medical history that can assist him or her serve the
patient. Lack of the medical documentation is a sign of poor communication between the
doctors. The second impact of poor communication is long wait time for the patient under
care. The problem mainly comes from the staff members. For example there can be a
conflicting schedule among the doctors who should serve the patient. Despite having
schedule there can be a situation where the staff have not communicated when there should
ended. The patient will wait for long to get the next service.
On the other hand there are cases where patients lose their lives or encounter costly errors due
to poor communication. For example, if there is a case where a doctor had diagnosed the

patient without even checking on the medical history (Foronda, MacWilliams and McArthur,
2016: p.37). It may be an instance where the nurse who had taken the medical history did not
communicate with the others. Therefore the wrong diagnosis may lead to other diseases
which can cost the death of the patient. Apart from that, there can be further complications
that can arise. It will require the patient to look for more cash to cater for the treatment. Poor
communication also lead to poor decision making and poor treatment recommendation
(Vermeir et al, 2015: p.1257). For example when a group of nurses are taking care of a
patient in schedule but they do not share the medical history of the patient, other nurses will
not have the information to enable them recommend the best treatment for this patient and
thus result to poor care (Gluyas, 2015:p.50). However, there are cases where the poor
communication begins from the patient. In such a scenario there will be incomplete follow up
by the doctors. Communication is important to assist nurse prioritize the patient inquiries and
attend to him or her in time.
In conclusion, poor communication do not only complicates patient’s life but also frustrate
the nurses that care for the patient. From the above literature review, it is clear that poor
communication should be dealt with on priority since it can complicate life of human being.
References
Curtis, J.R., Treece, P.D., Nielsen, E.L., Gold, J., Ciechanowski, P.S., Shannon, S.E.,
Khandelwal, N., Young, J.P. and Engelberg, R.A., 2016. Randomized trial of communication

facilitators to reduce family distress and intensity of end-of-life care. American journal of
respiratory and critical care medicine, 193(2), pp.154-162.
Foronda, C., MacWilliams, B. and McArthur, E., 2016. Interprofessional communication in
healthcare: An integrative review. Nurse education in practice, 19, pp.36-40.
Gluyas, H., 2015. Effective communication and teamwork promotes patient safety. Nursing
Standard (2014+), 29(49), p.50.
Scotten, M., Manos, E.L., Malicoat, A. and Paolo, A.M., 2015. Minding the gap:
Interprofessional communication during inpatient and post discharge chasm care. Patient
Education and Counseling, 98(7), pp.895-900.
Vermeir, P., Vandijck, D., Degroote, S., Peleman, R., Verhaeghe, R., Mortier, E., Hallaert,
G., Van Daele, S., Buylaert, W. and Vogelaers, D., 2015. Communication in healthcare: a
narrative review of the literature and practical recommendations. International journal of
clinical practice, 69(11), pp.1257-1267.