The Importance of Communication in Nursing - Essay Example

"The Importance of Communication in Nursing" is a worthy example of a paper on care.
The first time I met Mr. Johnson he was admitted to a local community hospital for close monitoring and care. He was admitted as a direct referral from a local hospital in Thailand because our hospital had better services for paralytic patients. He had suffered multiple strokes in the past. He had developed several disabilities due to the multiple strokes, which have left him paralyzed, unable to speak, and eating difficulties. He depended on nurses for total care including meeting the needs of activities of daily living. I was assigned to him on my shift and my nursing care plan involved monitoring his vital signs, performing oral care, assisting him with elimination needs, and feeding him. Other plans in the nursing care include ensuring he receives massage daily and his intake of fluid is adequate. The goal was to ensure that he meets all his needs and shows signs of improvement before he is discharged home.

During my time with Mr. Johnson, I experienced communication barriers that made it difficult to implement some of the nursing care plans I had formulated. To begin with, the first barrier to communication was Mr. Johnson’s inability to speak due to his paralysis. This made it difficult for me to identify his exact need because he tried to communicate with sign language, which I was not able to interpret correctly. He also uttered some words that were not clear. Mr. Johnson comes from Thailand hence his English was not that good and neither were his relatives able to speak fluently making it difficult to assist them. His cultural practice in some way interfered with my nursing care because he became uneasy when I tried to bathe him and I noticed the reason was that I am female. Also, being a lady nurse, most of his relatives found it difficult to confide in me whenever I consulted them for certain family issues. Not being able to speak made Mr. Johnson utter some words that I was not able to understand neither was he good at using nonverbal communication, which created a misunderstanding. Lastly, he had very little attention to what I told him making it difficult for him to comply with the treatment therapy.

Although I experienced these communication barriers, I had to look for a solution in order to implement my nursing care plans. I consulted Mr. Jesse a male nurse colleague from Thailand who was doing his internship for assistance. He was useful in translating information from Thai to English during my history-taking procedure with Mr. Johnson’s relatives.  After noticing that Mr. Johnson was not comfortable with me bathing him, I had to respect him and asked for assistance from Mr. Jesse who complied positively. Due to his inability to speak, I had to consult his family members for more information during the history-taking process. This process was also a success because of the translation assistance from Mr. Jesse. I did not find a perfect solution for interpreting Mr. jesses sign language but with the assistance of his wife, I was able to pick up most of the important beats of his conversation.

Mr. Johnson was taken care of best on the principles of good practice. All the nurses including myself treated him with care and dignity. I identified his individual needs and provided care in a way that respected his demands. For example, when he was not comfortable with a female nurse bathing him, I consulted a male nurse for assistance. Mr. Johnson was allowed to make his decisions based on his plan of care. He did not want a female nurse to assist him in bathing but wanted his wife or a male nurse to do it, which was respected. Some of the family members were involved in the care of Mr. Jesse for example his wife participated in history taking. Confidentiality was applied because all the information about Mr. Johnson’s condition gathered from history taking was kept between the nurse and him. Any other disturbing issues and bodily defects were to be known between the nurse and him alone.

 I took the responsibility for the care that I provided and had to answer for any decision that I made regarding my care plans. I took the initiative to document all complaints received from Mr. Johnson and his relatives. I had to manage any risk associated with his condition to keep him safe. The nursing staff together and I promoted and provided care to Mr. Johnson and allowed him to make decisions based on the information we gave him and his preferences. I was involved in assessing, recording, and reporting on the treatment and care of Mr. Johnson’s condition. Any information obtained from him was sensitive and confidentiality was observed by conscientiously reporting the things associated with his health.

From this experience, I learned that knowledge about the patient and his or her relatives is useful in formulating a nursing care plan for the patient. Good nursing management should involve both the patient and the nurse in order to arrive at a favorable decision (Canham & Bennett 2008). Best on the principles of good care, a good nurse should apply them to ensure dignity, confidentiality, and self-respect. Good and quality care depends on communication between the nurse and the patient. Communication enables the patient to express their feelings about the treatment process (Johns & Freshwater 2009). Communication also provides the nurse with the opportunity to gather information about the patient and to explain to the patient all the information regarding his or her condition. Although communication has some disadvantages and barriers, coming up with a solution as a nurse helps in establishing a good therapeutic relationship with the patient (Price 2011).