Effective Nursing Communication

This essay aims to discuss why good communication is essential in both mental health nursing child nursing. The nursing and midwifery council (NMC) code states that nurses must make the care of their patient their first concern by treating each of them as individuals and respecting their dignity.(NMC, 2008) In order to do this they must be able to communicate with their patients effectively. The code states that nurses must listen to the people in their care and respond to their concerns and preferences. They must support people in caring for themselves to improve and maintain their health. Recognise and respect the contribution that people make to their own care and wellbeing and make arrangements to meet people’s language and communication

Effective communication is a vital part of a mental health nurses job. They must be able to communicate what they are saying to their patients clearly without the use of jargon in a way in which the patient will understand and not as if they were talking to a colleague, as professionals will have a different way of understanding something to the way a patient will. If this is not done correctly and a mental health patient has no understanding of what is going on this could cause an illness to escalate when the patient becomes frustrated by their lack of understanding and not knowing what is going on. Also in situations where something is not explained properly a service user could end up giving consent to something without understanding what it actually entails and understanding what it is about.(O’Carroll and Park,2007) It the job of the professional take into account the service users communication needs, whether they be someone with learning disabilities, sight or hearing problems or language difficulties and to then provide an independent interpreter or to use necessary communication aids. (NICE,2011) Mental health care also consists of different multidisciplinary teams working together,

The way in which a nurse looks, moves and reacts can let off a lot of signals to a patient. The patient and their family can see if the nurse is being honest and how well they are listening, this should also works vice versa. When nonverbal go with what a person is saying, they increase trust, clarity, and rapport. When they don’t, they generate tension, mistrust, and confusion (Help Guide 2015) Whilst working in mental health nursing and children’s nursing a it is likely to work with someone who has a hearing sight could more impairment, therefore body language and tone of voice becomes even more important. If the a condition or impairments one that develops suddenly this is where a nurse would need to re-evaluate the way in which she would communicate with the individual. A person’s ability to communicate can also be affected by the way in which others react towards their physical , mental illness or disability.(NHS choices, 2015) The way in which a nurse listens to a patient and their family members is also as equally important as the way im which they talk to them. Within any field of nursing, intimate and very private issues are often discussed. These may include an individuals, hopes, fears, concerns, sexuality and issues