If you or a loved one has ever experienced an affliction that involves a hospital stay, you know that the hospital setting can be a very frightening experience. When a hospitalization is involved, it is not uncommon to feel as though you have lost all control. It is a setting where people feel helpless and immobile, while having no idea what is in store for their near future. Many patients, especially elderly people, upon admission to a hospital, will experience disorientation in their new environment and may become uncooperative (Grace.) This is when effective communication is needed the most.
During the summer months, I spend forty hours a week working at the Faxton-St. Lukes Health center. I am a care attendant in the Operating Room. As part of my job, I have the responsibility of retrieving patients from another floor and delivering them to the surgery unit. Surgery is a very intimidating thing and I am in contact with the patient when they are most frightened. I have learned a great deal from interpersonal communication and have come to realize that all I have learned, will be able to be put to good use this upcoming summer. I am certain that the skills I have acquired in this course will better prepare me to communicate effectively with the patients and make their hospital experience less fearsome. I am now more excited to communicate with people I know and don’t know. This summer, I will constantly be evaluating myself in many different scenarios of communication within a hospital setting. I will use my new skills, not just with the patients, but with my colleagues in the Operating Unit as well.
Everybody in a hospital setting is competent in each of the important areas of communication. However, the better c...
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...when I return to my job at the hospital, I will be able to use my new communication skills in ways stated above. I will be able to communicate at a higher level with not only patients, but with family members, doctors, and colleagues as well. I can use the opportunity to perfect these skills and take them with me as I pursue my career in the medical field. I learned that messages are like ice bergs…what you see may not be the whole picture. I now have a conscious awareness of my communication opportunities and will, from here on out, have a better view of the whole iceberg.
Works Cited
Jensen, Arthur, and Sarah Trenholm. Interpersonal Communication. New York, 2008. 338-343.
Grace, Patricia. Effective Communication in a Hospital setting. Examiner.com. 1 July 2009. < http://www.examiner.com/senior-care-in-national/effective-communication-a-hospital-setting >
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