The Role of Communication in High-Quality Patient-Focused Care - Essay Example

"The Role of Communication in High-Quality Patient-Focused Care" is an exceptional example of a paper on care.
Since time immemorial, effective communication has been accentuated as a primary and elemental constituent in healthcare. According to Boscart (2009), "Effective communication is recognized as an integral part of delivering high-quality patient-focused care" (p. 1823). Communication may either be effective or ineffective. This paper describes a summary of an incident involving ineffective communication and describes communication barriers and other challenges that contributed to the incident. This paper also proposes strategies that could have been employed to promote a better outcome. 

A good example of ineffective communication in nursing includes a nurse omitting vital information such as age or specific symptoms of a health problem when collecting a patient's medical information and further relaying the information to other medical practitioners. Effective communication between nurses and other medical professionals is imperative. Nurses as well as other medical practitioners are constantly dealing with patients from diverse backgrounds or cultures in challenging environments and hence effective communication plays a significant role in the provision of safe and high-quality health services (Robinson et al, 2010).

Subsequently, there are other challenges and barriers that may have contributed to the omission of important information when collecting a patient's medical history and relaying the information to other healthcare professionals. Thomas, Bertram, and Johnson (2009) posit that hospitals and medical clinics are sometimes noisy as a result of the huge numbers of patients they serve at each particular time. There are also a lot of machines being employed in the provision of better healthcare services and these may also be noisy. Additionally, Thomas, Bertram, and Johnson (2009) make reference to a methodical investigation conducted by scientists at John Hopkins University whose results showed that elevated levels of noise elevate the level of stress among nurses and other healthcare professionals. This investigation also showed that elevation of stress levels may lead to depression, bad temper, and a range of mistakes associated with the incapability of healthcare professionals to focus on their work.

There are strategies that could have been employed to promote a better outcome. One of the strategies is the employment of the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) system of communication. The application of this system of communication in the Nursing profession enables nurses to put in order their work and opinions before relaying or sharing any information with other healthcare professionals. In other words, the nurse is able to comprehend the situation requiring the assistance of other professionals, identify any omissions of important medical information, review, and as well give appropriate suggestions in regard to the management of particular medical problems or disorders (Thomas, Bertram and Johnson, 2009). Thomas, Bertram, and Johnson (2009) further assert that "Experienced nurses can also benefit from the SBAR technique to save time, reduce frustration, and improve overall communication" (p. 176).   

In conclusion, there are many barriers and challenges that contribute to poor or ineffective communication within healthcare institutions. High levels of noise as a result of a high number of patients and sophisticated machines in healthcare institutions is a major cause of stress among nurses as well as other healthcare professionals. Stress may lead to a bad temper and an inability to focus. Therefore, nurses may omit important information when collecting patient's medical information. One of the strategies that can be used to promote a better outcome includes the employment of the SBAR system of communication. This gives nurses ample time to put their work and suggestions in order before relaying it to other medical professionals.