Communicating Health Information between Health Professional and Service Users - Essay Example

Communicating Health Information between Health Professional (HP) and Service Users Health professionals are some of the most important characters in society. These people play a major role in ensuring that people remain healthy and lead fulfilling lives. For these people to work effectively, it is imperative that they have effective communication skills (Berry, 2007). These skills are imperative for them to pass information efficiently to the other related parties, either their fellow healthcare practitioners or patients. There are different factors to consider when focusing on the issue of communication in the healthcare setting and reviewing them is critical for the advancement of healthcare knowledge. There are different types of communication that take place in an organization and one of them is verbal communication, which involves when one individual speaks directly to a second party. The effective way to carry this out is face-to-face dialogues and phone conversations (Sytsma, 2010, 97). In the hospital, for example, there are speakers set on each floor of the building where each time a verbal announcement is made, all the people including the ones whom the information was directed to get the information. The verbal announcements are summarized where, for example, a certain doctor is needed in a certain room to check on his/her patients for an emergency the nurse may just call out his/name and state the room where needed. This is an effective method of verbal communication within the health profession. Conferences and seminars are other places where these people get a chance to have effective verbal communication. In these conferences, people get to share ideas on how to improve their current working conditions and offer views regarding the medicine field to understand the best manner through which to improve in a particular field. These conferences are educational as experts and newbie healthcare practitioners exchange ideas.  This kind of verbal communication is effective as the older generation of practitioners offers tips on how to thrive in the hospital setting for a very long time without failing. On the other hand, the young practitioners are equipped with new skills in areas such as information technology and with the advent of the internet, they can offer the older generation with assistance on how to work with these new tools. Non-verbal communication is also widespread in the healthcare setting. This kind of communication is most common during surgical procedures. This is because it is illegal for the surgeons to speak or rather utter words when in the theatre. Despite the existence of this rule, many practitioners happen to break it often to maximize or rather haste their processes. However, for the hospitals that follow proper medical guidelines, it is not right to speak when performing surgery and these surgeons operate by the use of signs inside the operating room. This is an effective communication method if the nurse and the chief surgeon understand each other. Prior to operation, these two ought to review the meaning of the various signs so that their work inside the operating room runs effectively. This method of non-verbal communication is very efficient in the healthcare setting. There is the form of non-verbal communication is where the doctors have to understand the requirements of the patients that are extremely ill to the point that they cannot converse. This is also common with patients who have a problem with the throat. Many times these patients do not have the ability to talk directly to the doctors and this is because of the tube of air passed through their throats (Felix, 2011, 55). The only manner through which the doctors and nurses can work with these people is by using a pen and paper where the patient reveals what it is that he or she wants. In advanced institutions, there is the connection of these patients’ brains with a computer where they have the ability to think about a certain commodity that they deem necessary and just by the thought, the computer speaks to the doctor about what the patient thinks. This amount of technology is expensive and not available in many institutions. A common type of communication popular with the health profession is formal communication. This formal communication is a type of communication where the doctors and nurses or even any medical practitioners discuss amongst themselves issues relating to healthcare and medicine (Berry, 2007). There are times that a patient may be brought into a medical facility with symptoms not common to the doctors in the institution. In order to handle this, the doctors convene a meeting where they have to discuss all the possible causes of this illness (Felix, 2011, 87). Moreover, they have to discuss the best manner through which they can resolve the issue. This kind of communication involves many medical terminologies and given the seriousness of the matter, this is formal communication. Formal communication can also take place between a doctor and a patient and this is when carrying out the diagnosis. Diagnosis is a very vital step in the health profession and thus the communication at this point ought to be professional. Informal communication is also another form of communication that people in the health profession engage in. Doctors and nurses may engage in informal communication where they may meet and discuss issues relating to their families. They may also crack jokes about family after work in order to ease the work tension that exists after a hectic day. There also exists informal communication between doctors and patients (Valentine, 2009, 54). This is where the patients may feel inclined to meet up with their doctors to show appreciation for services offered. Patients may go out with the doctor and this may have them indulge in conversations not related to the health of the patient. Models of conflict arise in the case there is a misunderstanding of information passed through the communication process. In the case of healthcare, this is actually very delicate for dealing with the health of people is a matter that requires a lot of attention and concentration for making any blunders can ruin a person’s life and in extreme times may lead to the demise of the patient. One of the greatest causes of conflict with regard to communication among employees is the age difference. Many employees of the contemporary world graduate and go straight into medical institutions. A major issue in modern day medical facilities is that there is the reluctance of the older generation doctors to retire and hence face a rather tough time getting along with the new employees (Miller, 2011, 258). Despite the fact that medical terms rarely change, there is the issue of the manner in which these people carry out their activities. The older generation is used to the form of working where they carry out activities after direct verbal communication. However, young employees expect the older generation to pave way for them as they slow down the running of the organization. Younger employees are fast in their verbal and non-verbal communication where they do not need direct verbal communication to carry out certain obvious tasks. Understanding the communication process is one of the vital aspects to take with regard to the healthcare system. Healthcare is a concept that cannot be eliminated from society and thus it is important to embrace it and treat it with the amount of respect that it deserves. Moreover, understanding the various conflicts that may arise from various practices that people engage in is important for people get to understand the risks that may take place after inappropriate communication. Bibliography Berry, D. (2007). Health communication theory and practice. New York: Open University Press Felix, M. (2011). Communication in the Healthcare Setting. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Miller, R. (2011). Lifeline Awards. Healthcare Business Market Research Handbook, 53(2), 240-261. Sullivan, J. (2011). A Practical Guide to the Privacy of Health Issues. New York: McGraw Hill Publishers. Sytsma, S. (2010). Ethics and Communication. New York: Cengage Learning. Valentine, D. (2009). Effective Communication. New York: McGraw Hill Publishers. Read More