Therapeutic Communication - Essay Example

?Therapeutic Communication Communication is the process of transferring information from one source to another. There are seven essential components of the communication process and each of those components play a vital role in the success of the communication process. Sender is first major component of communication. Sender is the person who starts the process of communication by sending some message to the receiving party, which can be a single individual or a group of individuals. Sender of the message can be anyone depending on the situation. Next component, message, is a note on any subject matter sent from the sender to the receiver. Message can be verbal or nonverbal and it can be the expression of anything, which may include a feeling, an opinion, an order, or a suggestion. Encoding is the third component. Use of pictures, words, and body language to send a message properly to the receiving end is known as encoding of the message. The fourth component is channel. The channel is the way through which a sender sends a message to a receiver. In case of long-distance communication, the channel can be electronic mail, telephone, or web chat. Whereas spoken words are used in case of personal contacts where no electronic channel is required for the delivery of message. Next component, receiver, is the person or a group of people who receives the message sent by the sender. Receiver can be anyone to whom the sender sends the message. For example, in organization settings, the receiver can be anyone related to the organization. Decoding is also a major component. Decoding means to understand the message sent by the sender. Decoding is the job of the receiver who tries to understand the meaning of the received message using common perceptions and understanding the word meanings. The last component of communication is. It not only encourages the sender of the message but also helps the sender know whether he/she is going in the right direction or not. If we talk about levels of communication, we can say that there are three levels of communication, which include positive communication, intimate communication, and physical communication. In positive communication, more time is dedicated for speaking what one has to speak. Nursing professionals can make use of this level of communication to make the patients comfortable with the treatment procedure by talking with them and listening to their concerns. Next level is intimate communication. It is a form of friendly communication, which makes the communication process effective and result-oriented. Nursing professional can make use of this level of communication by talking with the patients in a friendly and joyful manner instead of making them feel ignored and unnoticed. The last level is physical communication. At this level of communication, people make physical contact with each other. It may be handshaking or giving hug to each other. In nursing profession, the physical contact between the patients and nurses is known as physical communication, such as, helping a patient move to the bed from wheelchair or checking a patient physically. Communication is of two main types, which include verbal and nonverbal communication. In verbal communication, people make use of tongue for the exchange of information whereas in the process of nonverbal communication, people make use of body language, eye contact, gestures, and appearance to send nonverbal messages to other people. In creating and maintaining a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship, the role of a nurse is very important. It is the process by which nurses provide effective nursing care for patients in need of psychosocial intervention (Therapeutic Communication, 2011). This relationship is based purely on mutual trust and respect. In this relationship, a nurse dedicates herself to the well-being of her patients by providing them with effective treatment, care, and physical and spiritual assistance. This relationship develops when a nurse shows extreme concern for the well-being of her patients and results in creating a warm and caring relationship with the patients. A nurse’s focus in this healing relationship is completely towards the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of the patients. The role of effective interpersonal verbal and nonverbal communication is also very important in this regard. A nurse can maintain a therapeutic relationship by listening to the concerns of the patients. Making meaningful use of communication is the primary requirement for every nurse (Collins, 2009). Some of the therapeutic communication techniques and factors that strengthen all caring relationships established within the professional RN role include trust, listening, empathy, eye contact, maintaining patient’s privacy, and use of kinesics and paralanguage. Showing Empathy and Listening To Patients A nurse needs to show empathy towards her patients in order to maintain a healing relationship. A nurse must be aware of how she appears to the client in order to make the therapeutic communication effective (Kimmel, 2007). Showing concern by listening to the patients plays a considerable role in this regard. Eye Contact It is very important for the nurses to maintain eye contact and show expressions during communication with the patients in order to develop the feelings of trust and credibility. Privacy A RN also needs to maintain privacy of her patients because it not only makes patients disclose private information in front of the nurses but also it is one of the ethical requirements of the nursing profession. Use of Kinesics and Paralanguage Nurses can make use of kinesics to convey some message to her patients using hands and gestures. These gestures include actions like outspreading hands to indicate offerings and making thumbs up in order to show appreciation or support to the other person. Dave (2009) states, “Paralanguage is a form of body language really, only it's the body of the words you speak”. Paralanguage is a nonverbal form of communication in which a nurse makes use of some special tones or accent to convey some special meaning to the patients. “Para-language accounts for 38% of communication” (Jackson, 2007). Some of the non-therapeutic communication techniques that hinder and/or damage professional nurse-patient relationships include overloading, under loading, incongruence, and invalidation. Overloading If a nurse asks too much questions with little or no time gap between those questions or changes the subjects frequently, it adversely affects the relationship because the patients start feeling confused and perplexed. Under loading If a nurse remains silent for a long time after every question, the patients starts feeling bored and neglected which affects the relationship. Invalidation If a nurse starts ignoring her patients and keeps herself too much busy in work in their presence, it also affects the healing relationship. Having an understanding of the cultural diversity is very important for the nurses because they have to deal with the patients belonging to different cultures and societies. There are differences between the norms and values of every culture, which make people behave differently in different situations. In therapeutic nursing, nurses need to maintain those differences by dealing with the patients in accordance with their respective cultures in order to maintain a good therapeutic relationship. In this part of the essay, let us talk about the role of a nurse in dealing with disabled patients. Nurses can make use of gestures, hands, and body language to communicate with the people who are unable to hear or speak. Similarly, physical communication using hands is good to deal with the patients who are unable to see. In case of older adults, nurses can make them feel valued by showing empathy and concern, talking politely, and giving respect to them. Summing it up, the role of a nurse in therapeutic environment is very important. A nurse needs to be effective in dealing with disabled people and those from different backgrounds properly in order to provide them with effective treatments. References Collins, S. (2009). Good communication helps to build a therapeutic relationship. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/clinical-specialisms/educators/good-communication-helps-to-build-a-therapeutic-relationship/5003004.article Dave, J. (2009). The Value of Knowing What Paralanguage Is. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Value-of-Knowing-What-Paralanguage-Is&id=2111424 Jackson, J. (2007). Selling with Non-verbal Communication. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Selling-with-Non-Verbal-Communication&id=454262 Kimmel, N. (2007). Therapeutic Communication in the Nursing Profession. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Therapeutic-Communication-in-the-Nursing-Profession&id=594747 Therapeutic Communication. (2011). Therapeutic Communication in Psychiatric Nursing. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://www.nursingplanet.com/pn/therapeutic_communication.html Read More