Investigation of Communication between People in Health and Social Care - Essay Example

Investigation of communication between people in health and social care. "Interpersonal communication is a humanizing factor that is an innate element of the nursing process (assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation) and of the communication that occurs between nurses and clients, and nurses and professional colleagues" (Bonnie). There are many theories which govern the interaction between Health Care Professionals and patients, or that help to analyses and interpret the availability and effectiveness of the communication system in its entirety. The humanistic Communication theory in respect to health care professionals, explains the significance of the realization, that Human beings expect to be treated as, and dealt with as living beings who have emotions, aspirations, are concerned with the existential elements of life such as solitude, loneliness, pain, struggle and an understanding of this phenomena can help Health care Professionals better deal with challenging situations such as life threatening conditions. The behaviorist theory explains that every physical action or gesture is to be construed as an expression of behavior, this philosophy argues that every thing an organism does, including the thought process and feelings, should be considered as behavior. Understanding and applying the behaviorist theory, by observing the actions of the patient in context of this theory, the Health Care Professional can better cater to the psychological requirements of the patient, which in turn can have a positive outcome in the treatment, and psychological management of the patient, while the patient is in a state of trauma due to an emotional incident or a life threatening ailment. Cognitive theory can help decision making in nursing by providing a framework, which incorporates acquiring empirical data from patients and assimilating new cases with the older ones, investigating the methods which proved to be successful in the past, and identifying and applying those to newer cases. The Psychoanalytical theory deals with the psychiatric assessment and psychiatric treatment of the patients by the nurses. For instance how nurses would work with delusional patients or mentally unstable patients. Therapeutic nursing involves showing empathy and respect to the patient. Verbal communication is the most important aspect of direct communication with the patients which involves nursing etiquette, and some other guidelines. The nurse is expected to speak clearly with the patient, in a slow, even tome for the convenience of the patient , the nurse is expected to address the patient by his/her name to give an impression of individualistic care and attention, broadly it directs you to be gentle in your interaction with the patient. Non-verbal form of communication suggests that while dealing with patients who are hard of hearing, along with speech, the nurse should use hands to accentuate the meaning.You can even write or draw out pictures for the convenience of patients who are deaf, or if the patient prefers a digital form of communication such as laptops, you can even arrange for that. It is rudimentary to call a person by his/her name, whilst seeking attention of the patient and introducing yourself to the patient in the same way. The patient should be included in the decision making process, this gives the patient the impression that he/she is in control of the situation. Only when the patient is ready to open up and express feelings should he/she be encouraged to do so, the patient should not be rushed into expressing intimate feelings. Patients should not be stereo-typed or prejudiced against in view of the values and beliefs they hold. Inappropriate interpersonal communication is a subjective phenomenon and applies both to the nurse and the patient. In context of the nurse the use of inappropriate language should be avoided at all costs, intentionally or otherwise, the nurse needs to be cognizant of the fact that even his/her best attentions could be misinterpreted and cause mental stress to the patient. The nurse should not at any cost breach confidentiality, not only is this frowned upon in this profession but also could cause suffering to the patient. Patient's privacy should be respected, the patient ought not to be threatened or be used aggressive language against. Different arrangements can be made, in order to fulfill specific communication needs of patients with hearing or learning disabilities, for instance patients with problems of articulation, or other cognitive impairments can make use of such aids, communication systems such as Makaton which uses signs and symbols to aid the communication process, can be implemented to be used by and with people who have communication problems.The Brail system is utilized to provide a way for the blind to transcend their physical barrier. Cultural and legal influences on communication in health and social care. Some times cultural barriers restrict the trained health care professional from the effective implementation of the knowledge and skills he/she has acquired during the course of the training. How a patient would react to a certain approach is a very subjective phenomenon, for instance people belonging to a certain faith might be unwilling to relate, if a health care professional promotes atheism while counseling. Gender plays a big role while determining and selecting a certain method of communication, for instance, people belonging to the female sex might have a preference for inures of the same gender especially patients belonging to many eastern cultures. Patients hailing from different stratums of social classes, might expect a treatment and care regimen, more in tune with their own life styles, for instance many highly educated people belonging to different classes might expect higher standards in their interaction. Appraisal of legal influences on communication in health and social care. There are many charters promulgated by the British Government to guarantee the rights of people with disabilities in learning or communicating. The Charter for Communication states that "every person with a communication disability has a right to be given information in a way they can receive and respond" (National Joint Committee). In the context of the health care professional these have many implications; The patient should be provided with the apparatus of his/her choice on the expense of the medical facility and the nurse be trained in various disciplines in communications, to ensure the proper implementation and use of those methods. "Every person with a communication disability has the right to be assessed and provided with the basic tools or equipment to help them communicate" (National Joint Committee). Communication Systems in organizations "Communication in organizations is not explored on an ad hoc basis. The process is directed by a rich body of organizational and communication theories that come from a variety of paradigms" (Barnett). These systems can identify all information that gets shared within a health care environment, as components of the communication system, be it interpersonal communication, e-mails or telephone calls. Within the health care system the sheer scale and complexity of these communication instances could overburden the entire organization. Miscommunication can contribute to increased morbidity rates in the health care environment. Modern standards require of all the health care facilities, to avail specialized content management systems, available in the market, and expend a proportionate amount of resources on employee training and recruitment. Evaluation of the use of information technology in communications in health and social care. There is a wide assortment of Information Technology products, to assist and complement the conventional Communications System within an organization. These IT software range from Content Management systems, such as SAP, and Microsoft's Dynamics. These CMS are robust in their functionality and scalability, boosting different modules, for record keeping, and for inter and intra health organization, exchange of information and combined research and analysis. These CMS are capable of storing a plethora of Medical and personal information, which provides detrimental information at the press of a button in time critical situations. For instance these systems are used to maintain comprehensive medical histories of a patients, and upon readmission of these patients to the Health Care Facility, this information saves the Health care professional a lot of time in proceeding with the treatment of the patient. For instance the health organization when contacted by a diabetic patient in case of emergency can readily retrieve his/her profile form the database and make sure that the patient is treated with insulin and his/her sugar level is maintained. A heart patient, upon arrival to a health facility, availing CMS, can benefit from his medical history, being accessed instantaneously by the Health professional , and saving him critical time in receiving the treatment. These systems are capable of storing information about the patient, in a variety of media, for instance, CAT scans or MRI reports can further be scanned into the system, patients' medical history from different Health Organizations can be Shared if integrated into a standardized communications system. Such a large database of medical information can also be used, for statistical analyses of patients and the results can be used in generalizing different conditions and their prevailance. Internet can be used to gain access to different medical journals which could assist in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. All this technology translates into better accuracy of the records for efficient and fast communication. This automation helps advance the activities of care workers and organizations, improves the quality of service, and provides a mean for better accountability. Though the use of Information Technology is not without its downsides, as the digital systems remain vulnerable to attacks by hackers, who could gain access to personal data of many patients, in reaction to which the patients can file a law suit against the Health Organization, or the information could be accessed by Health Insurance companies which can put them in a position to selectively discriminate, on the basis of the health of the individual. Evaluate the effectiveness of NHS Direct and analyses its values aswell as its flaws NHS is an online health counseling service provided by the National Health Service. Through an expert telephone advice line, NHS provides confidential access to medical information. Many commissioned services are also provided by NHS. Typical job roles at NHS include; nurse advisor, health advisor, health information advisor and dental nurse advisor. All these job roles require computer literacy as a prerequisite. Besides the telephone service the NHS provides many other services such as; health and symptom checkers, self help guide, and you could also access written answers to many typical health questions. The UK legislation provides many laws for recording and monitoring information, including the; Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 ("LBP Regulations"), Data Protection Act 1998, Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999, Human Rights Act 1998. Ten percent of random patient calls, can be recorded, and the simultaneous recording and monitoring of calls for certain patients is also allowed. Though very effective in its approach, but it still remains to be the "next best thing" to being there. The medical health professionals, attending the phone calls, generally are not specialists in their fields. There are numerous cultural and physical barriers which restrict and limit the degree of health care which could be provided. Though it can advise the patient, about the future course of action, yet it could not physically examine the patient. It could not administer any medicines, and it relies heavily on the prudence of the caller.Owning to some cultural barriers, some time the advice could be misinterpreted, with little opportunity to make amends for the mistake. It can take a mental toll on the caller while attempting to explain his/her condition. Bibliography. Bonnie W. Duldt. (1996) Humanistic Nursing Communication Theory. [online] Available from: http://www.bwbatteyconsult.com/T-HNCT.doc. [Accessed 22nd January 2010]. National Joint Committee. (1992) Guidelines for meeting the communication needs of persons with severe disabilities. [Online] Available from: http://www.communicationsforum.org.uk/Docs/DraftCharter.doc. [Accessed 22nd January 2010]. Barnett, George. Thayer, Lee. (1997) Organization-Communication: Emerging Perspectives: The Renaissance in Systems Thinking. (Vol 5). USA, Ablex publishing corporation. Read More