Reflection: Communication - Essay Example

Reflection: Communication Total Number of Words 538 Introduction The use of Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1988) providesus with a clear description regarding a specific health care situation, analysis of emotional involvement on the part of the health care professionals and the patients, evaluation of the said experiences, analysis behind the health care situation, and conclusion which allows the health care professionals on how to effectively manage the situation. As one of the most common congenital disease, the patient’s medical history noted that cerebral palsy of the patient was due to brain damage that has occurred during the child’s birth. Since there is no cure for cerebral palsy, reflection on effective ways to communicate with a child who has cerebral palsy using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1988) model will be presented in this study. Brief Information about the Patient Patient X is 4 year-old boy who has cerebral palsy was admitted in a paediatric ward for three weeks. Aside from having weak muscle tone, poor physical movement and motor skills, the child has problem with speech and hearing. The patient was admitted to a paediatric ward at one of the local hospitals due to signs of dengue hemorrhagic fever. With this, the patient has to undergo a series of laboratory tests for Dengue hemorrhagic fever. Medical treatment has to be administered to the patient depending on the physician’s decision to prescribe medicine. Reflection Description Patient X who has cerebral palsy was admitted to a paediatric ward due to signs of dengue fever. In line with this, it is common for paediatric patients to show asymptomatic signs and symptoms such as a mild undifferentiated febrile illness and maculopapular rash which normally occurs between 4 to 7 days (Iskandar et al., 2008; Isnar & Sentochnik, 2008). Untreated dengue fever could lead to mortality (Iskandar et al., 2008). Aside from relying much on the laboratory tests and patient’s vital signs, it was necessary to hear directly from the patient how he is feeling and coping with the illness. Since the patient has cerebral palsy, the child finds it very difficult to eat and drink due to muscle stiffness and movement difficulties (Dormans & Pellegrino, 1998) and communicate pain associated with the signs and symptoms of dengue fever (Stallard et al., 2002). As the patient undergoes a series of laboratory tests, medical treatment, and the provision of care; two-way communication line between the patient and health care providers is a must. For these reasons, it was a challenge on the part of the health care professionals to provide a holistic care to the child since the patient was unable to communicate verbally and has hearing problems. Because of the patient’s speech and hearing problems, the child can only communicate with other people using non-verbal cues such as hand gestures, sign language, eye contact, facial expression, and body language. Feelings When I first saw the patient, I wondered how I could possibly communicate with a paediatric patient who could only communicate using non-verbal cues. Being one of the health care professionals who was directly attending to his daily care and treatment, I felt that it was crucial on my part to accurately interpret what the patient had to say regarding his health condition and the specific care he needs to increase his comfort during his stay at the paediatric ward since the patient was highly dependent on his carers. I also noticed that the use of non-verbal cues with other health care professionals is not effective and sometimes could restrict him from fulfilling his daily activities of living. Activities of daily living include biological, psychological, socio-cultural, environmental, and politico-economic factors (Roper, Logan, & Tierney, 1996, p. 25). These elements should be satisfied in order to ensure that effective care is delivered to the patient. Considering the unique case of the patient, several studies revealed that patients with cerebral palsy is unlikely to maintain a safe environment, communicate with the health care professionals, eat and drink properly, defecate on his own, ensure proper hygiene such as clothing and bathing, mobility, or playing (Pennington et al., 2009; Roper, Logan, & Tierney, 1996). Levels of communication between health care professionals and patients who are non-verbal children is often low (Stallard et al., 2002; Beail, 1985). Since feeding and communication problems is often encountered in children with severe cerebral palsy (Dormans & Pellegrino, 1998), I decided to search for effective communication strategy that will work with paediatric patients with cerebral palsy who has problem with speech and hearing. Evaluation The use of effective communication strategies on children with cerebral palsy is effective in terms of regulating the child’s behaviour within the paediatric ward. It is common for children with cerebral palsy to communicate with other people using eye-pointing, gestures, and body movement (Glasper & Richardson, 2005, p. 384). It is also necessary to use play as a method of communication to encourage the child to develop a good nurse-patient relationship with the carers (Crawford & Raven, 2002). For this reason, I decided to incorporate play with the use of non-verbal cues when feeding the child, taking his vital signs, and administering medications when needed. Combining the use of play therapy with the use of non-verbal cues such as eye contact, positive facial expression like constant smiling, and body language when dealing with the patient is effective in terms of enabling the health care professionals win his trust. Winning the patient’s trust is good not only when assisting the child in fulfilling his daily activities of living but also taking his regular vital signs, blood samples for laboratory test, and when administering medications. Basically, the care provided to the patient is necessary in increasing his chance of survival. For this reason, the health care professionals are able to decrease the risk of morbidity due to dengue hemorrhagic fever (Iskandar, Mulyo, Agnes, & Suryatin, 2008). Analysis Play therapy is often use as an effective strategy in developing a better relationship between paediatric patients and health care professionals (Ryan, 2004). Since the use of play therapy increases the patient’s trust with the health care professionals, combining the use of play therapy with the use of effective non-verbal cues could increase the communication link between the patient and the health care professionals. Conclusion Ineffective communication between the health care professionals and children with cerebral palsy could lead to misbehaviour on the part of paediatric patients. Since it takes two to talk, it is necessary to engage the health care professionals on proper training on how to effectively deal with children who has speech and hearing problem caused by cerebral palsy o avoid poor quality care delivered to paediatric patients with cerebral palsy (Pennington et al., 2009). Providing the health care professionals with proper training could increase the chances that they will initiate less effort when communicating with the child and produce more positive responses. It will also increase their interaction skills with paediatric patients with cerebral palsy (Pennington et al., 2009; Pennington & McConachie, 1999). Therefore, there is a higher chance for the health care professionals to increase and expand their communication line with this group of patients. As a result, health care professionals can perform better in terms of delivering proper health care services needed by children with cerebral palsy who are admitted at the paediatric ward. Action Plan The main goal of this study is to reflect and promote the use of effective communication when caring for paediatric patients with cerebral palsy. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to promote the need for the paediatric department of the said hospital to provide training on how health care professionals can effectively combine the use of play therapy and non-verbal cues when communicating with paediatric patients with cerebral palsy. Ethical Concerns behind Reflective Communication Throughout the reflection, the client’s name and a local hospital will be kept confidential to avoid breaching the law on confidentiality (NMC code of profession conduct, 2010). Aside from keeping the personal identity of the patient and the name of the hospital confidential, it is ethical to observe the importance of spiritual care and Code of Conduct when communicating with the patient. Hence, it is crucial on the part of the health care professional not to discriminate the patient on the basis of religion, sexual orientation, and other cultural beliefs. Conclusion As a health care professional, it is important to enhance our reflective communication skills in order to improve our qualifications as self-directed professionals. In line with this, engaging ourselves in reflective communication practices is useful in terms of improving the quality of care we deliver to our patients. This practice will not only stimulate our personal and professional growth but also narrow down the gap in our knowledge on health care theory and practice. The use of Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1988) is useful in terms of enabling us describe the effective ways on how to deal with paediatric patients with cerebral palsy who has been admitted at the paediatric ward for dengue hemorrhagic fever monitoring. In order to increase effective communication between patient X and health care professionals, it is advisable to combine the use of play therapy with non-verbal cues. This strategy is effective in terms of assisting the child with his daily activities of living and other medical requirements. *** End *** References Beail. (1985). The Nature of Interactions between Nursing Staff and Profoundly Multiply Handicapped Children. Child Care, Health and Development , 11(3), 113 - 129. DOI. 10.1111/j.1365-2214.1985.tb00456.x . Crawford, C., & Raven, K. (2002). 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