Listening Theory: The Importance of Listening Skills - Essay Example

Listening Theory Student’s Name Institution Affiliation Table of Contents Introduction 3 Analysis of Listening Skills in Interviews 4 Definition and Importance of Listening Skills 4 Stages of Listening 4 Passive Listening 6 Active Listening 6 Barriers to Effective Listening 8 How to Listen Effectively 9 Analysis of the Example Given 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction Nurses facilitate therapeutic and successful communication as well as contact with their patients through listening, questioning, summarizing, setting inductions, and closure, and through reflection (Berry, 2007). The skills used by nurses’ enables them to gather information, facilitate expression of patients, in reassuring the patients, harnessing views, opinions, and attitudes of patients (Bolton, 2006). This essay evaluates and discusses listening as an aspect of communication. Passive and active kinds of listening are analyzed and thereafter recommendations and suggestions constructed for future practice. Significant theories usually reinforce listening skills. Analysis of Listening Skills in Interviews Definition and Importance of Listening Skills Listening is a significant skill in interpersonal communication. It is defined as an activity involving receiving, deciphering, then perceiving a message in order to respond appropriately (DeVito, 2006). Therefore, it is an active process where information is received, understood, and a response made to it. In nursing, listening invokes interest and it entails listening attentively to a patient and not just perceiving the message without reacting to it. The skill of listening is important in assisting patients and nurse to learn about certain things touching on them. Listening skills are important in enabling individuals to share with others information, thoughts, or feelings. This could be through music or stories being said by other people (O'toole, 2008). Listening helps us to comprehend and read about the other person's opinions. In the process, diversity is appreciated and in the process, positive work relationships are generated (Amos, Mary, Jie & Charlotte, 2005). In the process, an understanding on how to help others is generated from the positive working relationships. Stages of Listening Stage 1: Hearing This is the first process stage of listening whereby the verbal and non-verbal messages sent by the speaker are received. The listener also pays attention to what is omitted in speech. Receiving entails perceiving the facial expressions, gestures, as well as tonal variations (Nelson-Jones, 2006). Stage 2: Understanding Here, the listener seeks to comprehend what the speaker is saying by extracting the meaning from the message. The listener can seek clarifications if they fail to understand the message (Nelson-Jones, 2006). Stage 3: Remembering The message passed across has to be remembered. The major segments of the ideas in the message should be stored in the memory of the listener. The capacity of short-term memory holds only a small segment of information whereas the Long-term memory holds a bigger amount of information. Remembering information can be enhanced through categorizing it into major segments or central issues then repeating the message being communicated. Stage 4: Evaluating The stage is necessary because all messages passed across vary in significance. Some messages have truth, lies whereas others are trivial or with destructive tendencies. Judgment of the speaker’s message helps in the evaluation of the intentions of the speaker (Goh, 2010). Stage 5: Responding In making responses, the listener supports the message passed on by using listening cues, like head nods or minimal responses. For example, “mm-hmm” or, “I see.” The listener should be responsible of what they say. Responses are usually made whereas the speaker is talking or after the speaker has finished with his messages. In the responses, the listener seeks clarification, comments or challenges whatever they have listened from the speaker (Goh, 2010). Passive Listening Passive listening refers to hearing what a speaker says without making any responses whatsoever (Browning & Roberta, 2010). Here, it is assumed that the listeners (patients or nurses) has heard and comprehended the message, but he or she remains uninfluenced and so does not seek verification of the message. An example of passive listening is tuning to a radio station whilst a patient undertakes some therapy exercises (Browning & Roberta, 2010). Active Listening In active listening, a listener is genuinely interested in comprehending other people’s thoughts, feelings, wants and meaning of messages. The listeners are active as far as understanding of a message is concerned, and before a response is made (DeVito, 2007). The listener restates or paraphrases his or her comprehension of the message and thereafter reflects it upon the speaker for verification (Weger, Gina & Melissa, 2010). This feedback or verification process differentiates active listening from passive listening. In nursing, active listening entails a nurse paying attention to a patient by leaving other duties and focusing on just listening. Non-verbal cues are used to reinforce the message (Weger, Gina & Melissa, 2010). In the process of active listening, the nurse should maintain the right posture, position, eye contact, time, and animation. Active listening skills can be integrated as follows: Attending Skills These skills portray interest to the speaker, and they make use of verbal and non-verbal messages. For example, head nodding, maintaining eye contact, smiling, or agreeing by saying ‘Mmm hmm’ or ‘yes’  to encourage the a patient to continue speaking. Such a skill requires an environment that would not distract the patient or healthcare professional from listening. The attending skills are summarized using an acronym SOLER. Sit: A health professional, sits squarely while facing his client. A body posture, which indicates involvement of the medical practitioner with his or her client, should be maintained. The sitting position should facilitate ease of interaction and sight between the nurse and the patient (Stickley, 2011). Open posture-the question asked is to what extent a posture relays availability and openness with the client. For example, crossed arms or legs may imply diminished involvement of the nurse with the patient or remoteness, whereas an open posture demonstrates openness to the patient in whatever they are passing across (Stickley, 2011). Lean- One can slightly lean forward towards the client while listening to them to show interest and involvement. Leaning backwards away from a client would convey an opposite message. Eye contact- Maintaining eye contact with a client demonstrates interest in the message passed over to the patient. By looking away frequently, it would be interpreted that the listener is disinterested in the patient’s predicament (Stickley, 2011). Relax - This would ease the tension between the client and the healthcare professional. The client should feel relaxed. Fidgeting nervously or engaging in distracting facial expressions, should be avoided because the client may start wondering about many things. Following Skills These permit the speaker to have their opportunity in telling a story in their perspective. For example, using door openers or words like “mmmh,” “ahaa” during the conversation (Weger, Gina & Melissa, 2010). Pausing during conversations enables practitioners to be attentive throughout the conversations. Reflecting Skills These entail “restating the content and feeling with acceptance and understanding.” For example, paraphrasing what the client says into the language of the nurse or doctor without altering the meaning. For example using words like “…In few words …” in the interview process (Weger, Gina & Melissa, 2010). Clarification in reflecting skills is whereby the patient explains something clearly to the patient for easier understanding. For example, a clarification question that goes, “what if….” (Weger, Gina & Melissa, 2010). Checking accuracy means establishing accuracy of the listening skills and creating room for more discussion. For example, when someone says, “My interpretation of all this is…..” (Weger, Gina & Melissa, 2010).Summarizing enables information to be condensed into few words giving a general overview on one instance. Barriers to Effective Listening Barriers can be physical, mental, internal, or external. Problems usually arise when healthcare experts are unable to perform their duties because of various communication barriers. Some internal barriers include being preoccupied or distractions by other things. Sometimes the health professional’s own feelings, thoughts, biases, value judgments, preconceived ideas, and prejudices can make them not to be effective listeners. Assuming that listening is passive can prove to be hard work. One may require paraphrasing statements or asking questions to ensure there is an understanding. Non-verbal messages can bring about confusion in passing across a message. For example, by looking away from the speaker, the interpretation would be that the listener is disinterested in the message. Some external barriers include environmental factors like sounds coming from the environment or other people. It could also be caused by hearing deficiencies. How to Listen Effectively Gather physical composure. Here, one avoids crossing arms or twisting legs around each other. For example, a silent setting for communication to take place should be considered to ensure listening is effective. The patient has to maintain eye contact with the healthcare provider. For example, an adult talking to a kid can say…“Look at me when I’m talking to you” (O'toole, 2008). This is coupled by paying attention in a relaxed manner. Always give the speaker time to finish whatever he or she is saying before asking a question. For example, you can say”… “Back up a second. I didn’t understand what you just said” (O'toole, 2008). Attention is also considered for the non-verbal cues. A listener should avoid giving opinions, stereotyping, judging, or interrupting to ensure that listening is effective. Analysis of the Example Given The speaker expresses herself while the listener is very attentive. The listener clarifies unclear points made by the speaker by repeating to ask questions (00:53). The listener uses verbal words like “mmmhh” to allow the speaker to keep on talking as she listens. The conversation occurs in a slow but steady manner. The listener pauses at various intervals to allow the speaker to gain composure that is necessary to keep the conversation going (4:52). The disadvantage in the interview is that it takes place in a noisy place evident from the background noise. The interview could be improved by changing its setting to a silent one. The speaker can also try avoiding prompting for answers for some questions from the speaker. Conclusion Nurses make use of listening skills enable them gather information, facilitate expression of patients, extracting opinions and attitudes of patients. The skill of listening is important in assisting patients and nurse to learn about certain things touching on them. Listening skills are important in enabling individuals to share with others information, thoughts, or feelings. Active listening is where there is a need for understanding people’s thoughts, feelings, wants and meaning of messages, whereas passive listening hearing what a speaker says without making any responses. Eliminating barriers is essential to allow the message to be understood. References Amos, M. A., Hu, J., & Herrick, C. (2005). The impact of team building on communication and job satisfaction of nursing staff." Journal for Nurses in Staff development, 21(1), 10-16. Berry, D. (2007). Health communication: theory and practice. McGraw-Hill International, 2007. Bolton, R. (2006). People Skills: how to assert yourself, listen to others, and resolve conflict. Prentice Hall. Browning, S., & Waite, R. (2010). The gift of listening: JUST listening strategies. Nursing forum. 45(3). Blackwell Publishing Inc. Bygrave, P. L. (1994). Development of listening skills in students in special education settings. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education 41(1), 51-60. DeVito, J. (2006). Human Communication: The Basic Course. Allyn & Bacon. DeVito, J. The interpersonal communication book. Pearson Education, 2007. Goh, C. (2010). 8 Listening as process: Learning. English Language Teaching Materials,179. Grant, A., & Bach, S. (2009). Communication and Interpersonal Skills for Nurses. SAGE. Maier, N., & Frederick, R. (2007). The Appraisal Interview, Three Basic Approaches: A Revision of The Appraisal Interview, Objectives, Methods, and Skills. University Associates. Nelson-Jones, R. (2006). Human relationship skills: coaching and self-coaching. Routledge, O'toole, G. (2008). Communication: Core interpersonal skills for health professionals. Churchill Livingstone. Stickley, T. (2011). From SOLER to SURETY for effective non-verbal communication. Nurse Education in Practice 11(6), 395-398. Weger Jr, H., Castle, G., & Emmett, M. (2010). Active listening in peer interviews: The influence of message paraphrasing on perceptions of listening skill. The Intl. Journal of Listening, 24(1), 34-49. Read More