Patient-Centered Communication in Health Care Systems - Essay Example

Patient Centered Communication Student’s Name Institution Patient Centered Communication Communication is an essential tool that necessitates human interactions and helps simplify them. Different communication models are available for application in various settings, and they help explain the human communication process (Morgan, 2002). Inventions of different models rely on the concept of sending and receiving information and the party’s involved. A few examples of communication models available include the Shannon and Weaver model, David Berlo model and the Schramm model. Communication has many benefits to an organization.in an organization, communication gets determined by the choices of the people involved i.e. the managers, executives, and the employees and customers available. Exchanges in an organization help in sharing of information, work management, event and project planning, and even enhance the coordination between different people (Hollnagel Woods and Leveson, 2007). The presence of poor communication procedure in an organization leads to confusion, lack of cooperation, low morale and even low productivity in different processes carried out. Executives have a duty to create good communication procedures and channels to ensure everybody acquires information and remains in contact with each other. Communication between employees and also communication between the employee and a customer helps the involved people maintain the organization's operations. Communication has different uses, and the most important are to ensure responsibility and provide vital information. In a hospital environment, communication plays a very importance role. Nevertheless, different problems affect and also arise from the type of communication methods used. A good example is a conflict. Employees may use communication methods available to argue with each other, with the management of with the customer. Conflict causes tension thus making it hard to monitor activities taking place in the particular environment. When patients feel the nurses do not meet their needs, they complain to the officials thus creating tension and enmity between all the stakeholders. Thus education of the importance of maintaining good communication helps in enhancing the relationship between both parties thus smoothening the operations and creating long-term relationships which are beneficial to both the hospital and the patient. An advantage of good communication is where it’s used by nurses to get familiar with patients. The familiarity ends up leading to the friendship which is good as it helps both parties work together, know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and build trust among themselves. The adverse effect of this is that an employee might forget to carry out some duties of being lenient in some tasks thus ends up being distracted from performing the duties required in the correct manner. It ends up being very disruptive to the performance of the nurse and risky for the patient. Due to this, a hospital should have different communication strategies as they help reduce the disadvantage and increase the advantages making nurses productive and more trustworthy to the patients. Effective communication between nurses and patients produces a good outcome of individual patient care. It helps nurses understand and help their patients so as to assist them inappropriately and thus should be sincere, courteous, and kind in nature. Nurses should also devote their time to the patients and create an air of confidentiality especially if the patient is sick and hospitalized. As a result, a mutual language of communication that is understandable to all should be used. Research shows that good communication is not only based on physical abilities of nurses but also in the education and experience they have. Nursing focusses on serving the wants of a patient as a biopsychosocial and spiritual person. It involves not only the science knowledge a nurse has but also the interpersonal, technical, and intellectual skills available. It means that communication in nursing revolves around the knowledge, clinical experience, and personal skills of the nurse. Thus good communication involves different activities and helps improve productivity in some areas such as treatment, health promotion, therapy rehabilitation, education in nursing. Efficient communication requires an understanding of the patient’s background and past experiences and their view on certain medical practices. At times, cultures acts as barriers and people from different cultures have different beliefs in how treatment is carried out and on how a patient related to the nurses and doctors. To avoid this, nurses perform health assessment so as to understand all details about a patient before trying to initiate treatment and care with him or her. It is clear that nurses need to study communication and interpersonal relationships and apply for individual courses to as to be successful in their field of work. Communication in health Care systems begins after the contact between the patient and the management i.e. doctors and nurses and lasts till the patient is either discharged or till the therapeutic relationship ends. First impressions are important at this point for a nurse to win the attention of the patient. So as to enable this, a peaceful environment with no internal or internal distractions and noises is required.it maintains privacy and confidentiality thus helping the patient open up to the nurse. Time is another important factor that helps build effective communication. Patients use different methods in revealing information about themselves, and thus a nurse should ensure that the patient is comfy and has the feeling that they got al the time they need without being pressured to talk. Understandable words within the understanding of the patients help in simplifying communication, and thus words that a patient cannot comprehend should be avoided. As seen above, it is clear that language used should be based on the patient and not on the nurse. Trust gets earned when discussions leave no fear, doubt, suspicions, or any misunderstandings. Some patients may be rude at times and quick to anger so it is the requirement of the nurse to ensure that he or she can deal with such emotions. People differ in the way they communicate. Some want to talk all the time while others are just good listeners. Others want accurate explanations on every procedure that gets carried out on them. As a result, a nurse needs to detect this behavior and deal with the patient accordingly and should avoid being silent of showing an air of indifference at any moment to avoid triggering the patient. As a result of this communication structures in nursing, reflection is important in the end as it helps nurses evaluate their performance in dealing with the patients and know where they excelled and where there is a need for improvement. Use of thoughtful analysis to check the day to day life’s of different patients and understand their emotions want and feelings are important in the day to day life in a particular workplace. Various models are applicable in creating a thoughtful analysis, and the most used are the Gibbs reflective analysis method. Critical analysis of the different situations helps increase a person’s knowledge and understanding of the particular occurrence regarding professional practices applied in regards to the behavior and values of partakers in the nursing field. It helps predict future trends and also how various factors affect and influence the behavior of the few people involved. This scenario took place in the Medical Ward in the secondary hospital. I was in the middle of morning duty when a cardiac arrest code activated suddenly. The patient was admitted a long time back in the ward with multiple chronic medical diseases. Her daughter stayed with her as co-patient for more than six months, and she got well known by the staff in the department. She was helping them in each procedure requested for her mother especially in bath and back care as the patient is bed-ridden. It is why the staff respect and trust her. She was with her mom when suddenly the patient arrested and cardiac arrest code activated. Immediately, I took the crash trolley and ran with the other staff toward the patient room and CPR initiated. The daughter recognized the situation as she attended many cardiac arrest and death during her stay in the ward. I was looking at her, and she starts tearing. After 20 minutes of CPR, there was no response. My friend was standing beside the daughter when she realized that her mother is dead and started to cry and the girl looked at her. I noticed that and immediately told her “if you want to cry just go outside, we supposed to be strong and help the daughter to overcome this situation.” Later on, CPR failed, and death declared. The girl screamed and ran to the different co-patient room, and she sat on the floor crying loudly. I followed her after a while, and she was sitting on the floor, crying and hiding her head between her legs. I sat on my feet to her level, and I hold her shoulders. I said, “Hey dear, it is okay.” She raised her head and told me: “she died. My mom died, and I watch her dying and couldn’t help her”. I told her “Everybody in this ward knows how much you did for her. “You sacrifice your life and choose to stay with her even though you knew that she is the unfortunate case and this can happen anytime.” She replied crying: “but she is my mother, how can I live without her?”. I wiped away her tears and held her hands and said: “she dies yes, but her soul will be always with you and believe me if she is alive at this moment, this is the last thing she wants to see. I know you very well. You are stronger than this, and you have faith, and you will overcome all this. Now, she is a guest of the God, who will take care of her better than me and you, and better than anybody else. All that we have to do is to pray for her, and you have to be strong as she would wish. That what will make her sleep in peace”. Then she hugged me and said: “yes, yes, you are right. I will be strong in sha Allah. Thank you very much, sister. God bless her soul, God bless her soul”. In this article, I need to reflect on the above situation that took place in the hospital during my supervision period so as to develop my skills in how I deal with different patients at a given time. The most appropriate model in this reflection is the Gibbs reflective cycle model. Above is a model used by various professionals, especially in the health sector though not limited to it, to help in the reflection which in turns assist in the continuous development of personal skills and thus helps ensure that the person continues learning new things which contribute to improving their overall performance. The main purpose in this is to reflect on a particular situation so as to evaluate whether all aspects have been put into consideration and evaluated. It simplifies dealing with such situation in case they occur again later. The reflection model consists of six steps so as to carry out a full assessment and evaluation. The first steps include a description of what took place and to who. All events should be involved in this action. The second phase involves checking the feelings and thoughts of the particular person so as so get a grasp of how the situation affected his reasoning. The third step includes evaluation. In this level, a person checks the nature of the experience so as to determine factors that make it good or bad. After this, an analysis of the situation gets done to help understand the situation more i.e. what took place in real as opposed to different perceptions. The fifth step involves coming up with a conclusion. It encompasses the end results about how well the situation got managed and provided suggestions on what else I could have done to simplify the way I dealt with the situation.it also provides different ways applicable in solving the problem so as to provide choices in case of a future occurrence. The final step contains an action plan appropriate if the situation was ever to occur again and it provides details on how I would different I would act in comparison to the previous case.It also helps explore if there is any skill I can learn so as to be better prepared the next time. As a result of its clear that to reflect is to generate a framework that includes both the practical knowledge and new skills that help in dealing with situations better thus helping a person increase their self-esteem and confidence. It also helps a person value his or her profession more through becoming more professionalized and knowledgeable. One main thing I need to improve on is the therapeutic relationship which encompasses the nurse to patient relationship. In this type of relationship, it is important to establish a rapport which in turn increases the trust level and understanding between the two involved parties and thus building a unique link between the nurse and the patient. Such a rapport plays a significant role in the patient’s life as it helps strengthen their self-esteem thus creating a positive attitude that enables personal growth for the patient. This relationship also allows a patient to carry out different dome functions. So as to facilitate this interaction, a patient the nurse requires qualities such as being caring, sincere, empathy and also trustworthy. These attitudes help in maintaining efficient and effective communication in different facilities. This positions also help grow interpersonal skills which assist in communicating with other people. Communication involves different actions and is divided into two categories i.e. verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication consists all communication methods which involve speech while nonverbal communication encompasses gestures, postures, tone and facial expressions, body movements and the level of volume when a person is speaking. Thus in this article, the topic under discussion includes the use of the Gibbs reflection model to help develop a therapeutic relationship, especially in a nurse-patient setting by use or interpersonal skills available. Reflection here helps analyze whether clinical reasoning, decision making, and action were applied in trying to save the patient and measures that should be taken in the future. A nurse’s ability to provide safe and high-quality care is at times hindered by a lack of good communication thus preventing fast decision making. Reflection analysis has many benefits to a nurse. It helps in accessing thoughts and actions for the purpose of personal learning development. It occurs naturally by instincts after a particular activity ends. It’s useful to nurses as it helps develop themselves in their line of work. Reflection analysis should be active and should not involve self-blame which lowers the motivation of the worker. Patient-centered communication is evolving day by day. Different people have come up with models to help explain it.one of this models is the RESPECT model breaks down the components of patient-centered communication. This model mostly encompasses motivation and performance (Motschnig and Nykl, 2014). It provides an approach to governance and leadership and how they affect the employee’s beliefs values and sense of worth. Research shows that healthcare providers who base treatment on psychosocial aspects build up a more active communication channel with them for better treatment (Harrod, 2017). The RESPECT model is broken down into the following components; Rapport Connect well to make a real talk socially. Use the patient's way of thinking on some issues. Don't judge too quickly. Avoid assumptions during rapport. Empathy Remember, the patient requires your help. Seek out and understand the patient’s rationale for his/her actions or sickness. Verbally recognize and accept the patient’s emotional state. Support Ask about and understand the barriers to care and compliance. Help the patient overcome hurdles. Involve household members if applicable. Encourage the patient you are and will be accessible to help. Partnership Be flexible about control matters. Discuss roles when essential. Stress that you are occupied together to address health problems. Explanations Enquire often to gain understanding To clarify something, use verbal skills. Cultural competence Patient’s cultural beliefs should be respected. Patients view about the nurse or doctor are at times established through cultural and ethnical practices Be aware of your ethnic biases and presumptions. Knowing limits is important when addressing issues that are cultural based. Comprehend your style of communication so as to find out when it's not working with a particular patient. Trust Be aware that some patients view self-disclosure in a different way. The main aim is to establish trust. Another form of patient-centered communication is providing motivational counseling (McKenna, 2006). It involves the use of a few techniques which give more understanding of the patient thus helping him or her develop new behaviors which assist in treating the disease and preventing recurrence again. Rather than telling a patient to do or how to carry out an individual activity, these techniques of communication enable nurses to help them devise their ways on how to change some particular behaviors and follow instructions involved in their treatment. So as to achieve this, a medical practitioner needs to observe the following factors. Firstly, expression of empathy through reflective listening and positive body language is important as it shows acceptance of the patients view without impacting judgment. Another factor in developing discrepancies which act as encouragement for the patient to accept change so as to achieve successful therapy (Ashmore and Banks, 2004). Avoiding arguments and confrontations by providing views that help a patient shift their perceptions id better than offering arguments that end up making the patient defensive. When a patient acts resistant to certain changes, a nurse should roll with them to avoid impacting pressure on the patient due to the lack of the ability to change or adopt new things quickly. Another factor is the promotion of self-efficacy by making the patient think of difficulties he overcame in the past. Thus, it motivates the patient as he sees the current hurdles easy to master too. Active patient-centered communication thus involves asking questions, participating in social exchanges, clarifying issues to come to an understanding, stating opinions though they may vary, expressing concern where needed and at last provision of essential information to necessitate good therapeutic relationship during treatment. Some techniques used in communication are based on the reasons a patient provides for his or her visit to the hospital. An example of such a method is the BATHE technique which is a strategy of communication with patients who have another type of problems rather than medical concerns. The first question involves the background of the person. Then it's followed by a question about how he feels about what is going on in his life (Arnett, 2017). The next question is based on how the situation troubles the patient and his view. Next asking the patient how he is handling the problem is important as if shows how the patient is functioning. At last showing concern helps show the patient you understand what he or she is going through thus a medical practitioner gets to know the strategies the patient uses and suggest alternatives where needed (Motschnig and Nykl, 2014). There is other few method of analyses available, and they include the John Heron six categories of intervention, the Rogers model, and the Egan’s skilled helper model. They all aim at giving guidelines on how to relate to patients and how to have interpersonal skills that are well suited for the certain job. As a conclusion, it is clear that reflection is important in all actions so as to help preview them and know where to improve. Good communication results in good performance and also creates healthy relationships which are productive to the healthcare facility in the long-term. References Morgan, M.G., 2002. Risk communication: A mental models approach. Cambridge University Press. Hollnagel, E., Woods, D.D. and Leveson, N., 2007. Resilience engineering: Concepts and precepts. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. McKenna, H., 2006. Nursing theories and models. Routledge. Hargie, O., Saunders, C., and Dickson, D., 1994. Social skills in interpersonal communication. Psychology Press. Jurin, R.R., Roush, D. and Danter, J., 2010. Environmental communication. Springer. Barbour, A., 1997. Caring for patients: A critique of the medical model. Stanford University Press. Harrod, M., 2017. Teaching Medicine: What Every Inpatient Physician Needs to Know. Oxford University Press. Motschnig, R. and Nykl, L., 2014. Person-centred Communication: Theory, Skills, and Practice. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Mitchell, S.A., 2014. Influence and autonomy in psychoanalysis. Routledge. Arnett, K.D., 2017. User-Oriented models used in the care and residential substance use disorder care. Lichtenberg, J.D., Lachmann, F.M. and Fosshage, J.L., 2013. A Spirit of Inquiry: Communication in Psychoanalysis (Vol. 19). Routledge. Ahern, G.R., 2015. A Narrative Inquiry: Case Leaders' Perspectives on Resilience in Hospice Care (Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University). Hendrikx, T.F.C., 2014. Why do some innovations fail and others succeed? Obstacles and drivers for patient-centred innovation (Master's thesis). Reach, G., 2015. The Mental Mechanisms of Patient Adherence to Long-Term Therapies. Springer, Switzerland. Sloan, G., White, C.A. and Coit, F., 2000. Cognitive therapy supervision as a framework for clinical supervision in nursing: using structure to guide discovery. The Periodical of Progressive Nursing, 32(3), pp.515-524. Ashmore, R. and Banks, D., 2004. Student nurses’ use of their interpersonal skills within clinical role-plays. Nurse education today, 24(1), pp.20-29. Gijbels, H., 1993. Interpersonal skills training in nurse education: Some theoretical and curricular considerations. Nurse Education Today, 13(6), pp.458-465. Ashmore, R. and Banks, D., 1997. Scholar nurses insights of their interactive skills available: a re-examination of Burnard and Morrison's findings. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 34(5), pp.335-345. Oates, J., Weston, W.W. and Jordan, J., 2000. The impact of patient-centered care on outcomes. Fam Pract, 49, pp.796-804. Cooper, L.E., Roter, D.L., Johnson, R.L. and Ford, D.E., 2003. Patient-centered communication, and concordance of patient and physician race. Annals of internal medicine, 139(11), p.907. Wanzer, M.B., Booth-Butterfield, M., and Gruber, K., 2004. Perceptions of health care providers' communication: relationships between patient-centered communication and satisfaction. Health Communication, 16(3), pp.363-384. Bulman, C. and Schutz, S. eds., 2013. Reflective practice in nursing. John Wiley & Sons. Finfgeld-Connett, D., 2014. Use of content examination to carry out knowledge-building and theory generating systematic qualitative reviews. Qualitative Research, 14(3), pp.341 352. Lieberman, J.A. and Stuart, M.R., 1999. The BATHE method: incorporating counseling and psychotherapy into the everyday management of patients. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry, 1(2), pp.35-38. McCulloch, J.A.N.E.T., Ramesar, S.I.M.O.N. and Peterson, H.E.A.T.H.E.R., 1998. Psychotherapy in primary care: the BATHE technique. American family physician, 57(9), pp.2131-2134. Boud, D., Keogh, R., and Walker, D., 1996. Promoting reflection in learning: A model. Boundaries of adult education, 1, pp.32-56. Read More