The Interpersonal Relationship between Individuals - Case Study Example

Task Case Study Review: A basis for interpersonal Practice Introduction Communication is the process of conveying andexchanging ideas, opinion in a way that creates mutual understanding to the partied involved. Effectual communication helps in enhancing the interpersonal relationship between individuals. Communication is a skill that enables people to have mutual understanding, share ideas, and solve the problems that people encounter in their everyday life to live meaningfully. Communication is verbal and non- verbal and everything that anyone does is part of communication and conveys some impression to other party. It helps in connecting individuals and improving the relationship between people in any situation. Good interpersonal skills makes it easy for feelings, thoughts, and needs of others to be known by others as they are listened to and understood in the best way (Kaprowska, 2008, pg 2). The communication skills may help Larry and family to cultivate their interpersonal skills involves improving the attitude of the individuals concerned. An attitude is a state of mental gameness to behave negatively or positively towards the object of attitude. It therefore affects how people react to any situation by affecting the feelings and behaviors as well as influencing the perception of individuals about their environment .Attitudes influences how an individual views the world and reaction and they last longer and are a basis for the feelings that people. Attitudes may remain the same until a deliberate effort is made to adjust and change the negative ones. Attitude results from what someone has experienced and learned over time form the environment in which one grows. Attitudes affect feelings of likes and dislikes and can generate very strong emotions. The problems facing Larry’s family required changed attitudes to makes it easy to deal with the people in his home and the hospital (Kaprowska, 2008, pg 7). Larry’s family is experiencing the consequences of poor communication. The inability to share information with his neighbors in the belief that they will avoid his wife is based on the perception of Larry that the society will judge and will stigmatize his wife. He thinks that the society will not understand that sickness is natural. When Larry is admitted in the hospital, he experiences the same lack of effective communication since the nurses are unable to explain to him why he must be under their care for some time. To him being in the hospital is just sitting around, making his feel stressed and frustrated. To create a good understanding between the hospital and his neighbors would require being open-minded since sickness is not self induced (Lucas, 2006, pg 15). Improving the personality of Larry himself would make it easier to deals with his son and the hospital staffs. He should have understood that any organization is a collection is individuals who are arranged hierarchically from the top to bottom but with a common goal (Mullins, 1996, pg. 22). He should have learned that organizations bring together people from diverse backgrounds who have different personality, culture, values, different religion, value systems, different in age and a gender, all of whom may not behave as Larry would have wanted. This is why although majority of the staff were good to him he still thought that they never talked to him properly, a situation that made him feel frustrated without a good cause. He would have realized that he was the cause of his problem. The problems of living together with his son and daughter in law became difficult and brought tension most of the time to the extent that his son hit him. This made them unable to cope and Larry considered moving out to stay on a boat on the canal. Larry felt that his independence and values were being eroded by the hospital and his family and made him wonder about the meaning of life. Values are socially approved ways of doing things in a way that is acceptable in the society. The values held by Larry was that visiting his wife and caring for her personally was a sign of being a caring husband. After being discharged, Larry tried to visit the wife everyday and stay the longest and to be free to visit whenever he wanted, but the nurses told him of the rules and that he could only visit in the afternoons. Larry could not understand the rules and the reasons because to him the wife recognized him in the morning hours than in the afternoons. He believed that his wife is a morning person. Larry therefore judged that the hospital staffs were preventing him from doing what he believed to be good for his wife. He tried to protect the same values but he encountered a problem with his son. Upon realizing that his son and the nurses could not do things his way, he became frustrated and bitter. His values made his interpersonal relationship strained and difficult (Mullins, 1996, pg. 356). Organizational Frameworks that influence Interpersonal Practice Any organization can achieve its goals at the right time and in the right way through effective management that organizes the factors in the organization to produce better results with the available resources. Organizations also need effective leadership with a clear vision that is shared by all members so that their effort leads to the achievement of the goals. Organizations create organizational structure because they find it difficult to control the behavior of the individuals. The NHS Community Care Act (2003) provides that caregivers assess the suitability of a patient to receive treatment from home or not. This is why Larry was made to stay in the hospital as provided for by the Incapacity Act of (2005). It is from such legislation that the hospital created rules, regulations, policies and procedures that direct the behavior of the individuals. The individual members are guided by the professional codes of conduct of their profession, regardless of the opinion of patients like Larry (Mullins, 1996, pg. 467) The government legislation should be customized to suit the unique situation for any organization. The government normally provided legislation as guidelines to all organizations in any field to operate in a way that does not violate the rights of the individuals. Most policies of any organization are drawn from the legislation within any area of concern. The Health and Safety Act (1974) provides guideline that helps organizations to protect the lives of people at work. It ensures that that standard equipment is provided so that the lives all people in an organization is not endangered, however, it may not address some unique situations that may satisfy the needs of those involved. Larry was not made to understand that the equipment in the hospital were there to be used for the safety of patients. Consequently, this led to poor interpersonal relations and misunderstandings (Koprowska, 2008, pg 90). Effective communication in any organization helps in improving the interpersonal skills between the individuals between professional groups and peers and the clients whom they serve (Slater, 2010, pg 46). It is generally acceptable that effective communication skills involve asking open-ended questions that allow individuals to express themselves, it also includes having good listening skills, having empathy and being assertive. Communication goes together with interpersonal relationships, and in the nursing context, there is need of better relationship between the patient and the caregivers. There is need for patient-centered communication with good communication skills such as listening and attending, empathy, information sharing and understanding the individual needs of the patient. The approach should also vary depending on the recipient of the message and the prevailing condition and the emotional distance that is appropriate. The nurses should have provided the help heeded by the family as a way of helping the patient to overcome his challenges (Cole, 2005, pg 99). The codes of conduct of that may be embraced should promote effectiveness, ensure continuity, sustain the patients, promote good relationships and improve the performance of the heath workers, it should also promote emotional well being and consider the frame of mind of patients and modify behaviors. The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics of nurses and midwives, spells out the standards that the practitioners are expected to uphold within the practice in order to avoid any misconduct. One member of staff shouted at Larry for staying too much, while to Larry the basic needs of his wife are not being met because she shares a room and the curtains are not being exchanged frequently. He also observed that the staff does not talk to the individuals concerned when being fed, so Larry decided to bring food from home and help Jeanie to eat the best as he could. The hospital should have explored all the concerns that he raised and respond patiently. The case may constitute a violation of the code of conduct and it led to poor interpersonal relations between Larry and the hospital staff (Blau & Scott, 1962, pg 244). Larry could not understand the bruises on the arms of his wife and the equipment around the hospital are not being used and some of the residents were unable to walk. To him, the staff showed poor hygiene and did not change gloves or aprons. His son however thought that the hospital was being checked regularly and was up to standards. The hospital staffs were being controlled by the Health and Safety Care Act (2009) in which they ensured standards, quality, and safety that all care providers must meet. However, lack of sufficient information that Larry needed about the bruises that he saw on his wife made him to conclude that the hospital was poorly run. He was therefore forced by circumstances to let Jeanie continue being in the hospital because he could not manage providing her with all the care she needed. To Larry even his son was not helpful; because he was justifying the hospital was doing a good job of care giving to Jeanie. This led to poor interpersonal relationship between Larry and the son as well as with the nurses. A good interpersonal practice should ensure that information sharing is able to leave all parties mutually satisfied as all their questions and concerns are all addressed (Adams, 2006, pg. 78). The organizational frameworks such as professional codes of conduct, legislation and organizational structures can influence the interpersonal practice when caring for Larry and his wider family. Most behaviors within an organization are directed by the organizational structure that forms the relationship between individuals and teams within the organization. The Health and Social Act (2009) made the nurses to do whatever they believed would provide quality care to the patient. The conduct and behaviors of all staff within an organization are usually according to the prescribed codes of conduct. These make the individuals to appear rigid by doing only what it allowed and treating all individuals and situations as if they are the same. The nurses handled Larry according to the regulations of the organization and reminded him of the time of visit. However, Larry did not expect that his visit to the hospital could be restricted by anyone (Banks, 2005, pg 56). The communication between the nurses and Larry was done according to the policies of the hospital, but it still did not prove effective. The Carer’s Act (2005) gives doctors authority to assess and decide on how to handle a patient. However, the approach used was expected to suit all members of the society alike, without being flexible. Therefore, communication that pertains to caregivers and patients and families also requires effectual communication skills. It leads to patients’ satisfaction, adherence to treatment prescriptions and improves the health of patients as they fell important and cared for. Weaknesses that cause communication barriers include stereotyping and categorization when dealing with individuals. The hospital staff assumed that Larry is like the others who would understand the regulations in the hospital and would not have any problem (Hall, 2003, pg 80). The procedures being used within the hospital to feed and handle the patients in the same does not pay attention to particular individuals. The Incapacity Act (2005) must have been used to assess whether the patient could be safe at home or not (Ott, 1989, pg 127). Larry on the other hand expected that the hospital staff would pay specific attention to the patient and that to him as an individual. Larry felt that the staffs were not taking good care of his wife better and he resorted to bringing food from home and feeding Jeanie the best way he knew. The hospital staff had many people to care for and could not just give the attention that Larry would have wanted. This led to poor relations between Larry and the hospital and because the organization made some staff to interact with Larry even though they hated his approach, it made one of the staff to shout at Larry and this further strained the already poor relations. This made Larry to conclude that the hospital staffs were not caring for his patient. Conclusion Communication skills are necessary for effective communication so that mutual understanding is established between people so that conflict is avoided (Robbins, 2001, pg 60). Effective communication is also important for cultivating good interpersonal skills and at personal and professional level. The problems of Larry and his family is a direct result of people who lack communication skills. The opinions are not shared in a way that creates understanding and harmony. With effective communication skills, the hospital staff would have had a good time while dealing with Larry and his wife. The hospital staff would have explained to Larry why the visiting hours are specific and why hospital staffs have uniforms. Management of every organization should be aware that Common barriers to interpersonal communication are personal values, personality differences, disruptive behaviors, culture and ethnicity , generational differences, gender, differences in perception, rigid professional procedures, differences in regulations and norms of professional codes of conduct, all of which influences how individuals behave in any situation (Daniels, 1885, 35). Policies, rules and procedures cause rigid behaviors in their staff and deny them an opportunity to respond to the unique need of the individuals whom they meet in the course of their work. Bibliography Adams, R., (2008), Empowerment, Participation and Social Work (4th Edition), Hampshire: Palgrave. UK Banks, S., (2006), Ethics and Values in Social Work. Palgrave Macmillan. UK. Blau, P. M., & Scott, W. R. (1962). 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