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Importance of communication in health sectors
Importance of communication in healthcare
Importance of communication in healthcare
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Recommended: Importance of communication in health sectors
Introduction:
A healthcare professionals ability to effectively communicate is essential towards the delivery of high-quality health care and maintenance of patient satisfaction.1 Latest study has shown that an established relationship with a patient facilitates an accurate diagnosis and an ease of giving therapeutic instructions1. As such, strong communication skills are important whilst approaching a client who is experiencing a lot of pain and is distressed about a treatment. Thus, by exhibiting empathy and understanding towards a client’s situation whilst building rapport are two communication skills that health professionals will need to ensure effective care.
Building empathy and Understanding:
Empathy refers to the ability of being intellectually and emotionally aware of another person’s thoughts and feelings.6 In the case of a client’s anxiety and growing discomfort towards a medical treatment, it may be suppressed by health professional’s ability to address client’s emotions with empathetic responses. Communicating with empathy involves relating to his/her fear as a way of letting the client know that their pain/anxiety is being acknowledged. Such examples include, “Describe the pain you are having?”2 and “I can see you are anxious about your treatment”2 and “I can reassure you that your feelings are normal”2. Through this, the health professional is reinforcing that his/her feelings are normal further sustaining a progressive establishment of rapport and trust.
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This is an encouraging way of showing empathy and understanding towards their situation whilst exhibiting effective
To be able to understand how empathy works between a certain group of people, it is necessary to know what empathy means. I found an interesting definition of empathy, as a crucial component of the helping relationship, a need to understand people ' distress, and to provide supportive interpersonal communication. Empathy is the ability to recognize the emotions of others. Empathy does not mean that we live other people’ emotions, but it means that we understand other people ' emotions from our experiences. Empathy does not mean to cancel your personality, but to understand how people perceive the reality. It is the ability to read information coming through nonverbal channels. In this
It involves, first, seeing someone else’s situation from his perspective, and, second, sharing his emotions, including, if any, his distress.”
What the research proved, was the enrichment of patients and an improved treatment outcomes. Empathy was the key to the success, thus a huge strength surrounding patient care (2011). However, I personally view empathy with many limitations. Epistemological Assumptions are one limitation when practitioners listen with third ears. For example, when a doctor doesn’t listen to the patient, rather, listens to the family or nurses. (2003) Practitioners will sometimes focus on feelings, not meanings. This in its self can be limiting, depending on the issue. If it’s a trauma, moving past the devastation is virtually impossible when focusing on the emotions it brings. Finding meaning in the experience, will allow the patient to heal. (2003). The expert knower, further undermines the patients story by creating superiority over the patient. All of these diminish the client and their experience, further breaking the bond of the client therapist
Empathy – This is about as to how you build up the relationship with your client that he knows his feelings can be shared with and confident of your input for his recovery.
Another noteworthy feature of this approach is the chance to empathize. In most forms of therapy, empathy is not used: why would you want to add more conflict to an already difficult situation? Well, as counterintuitive as it may seem, it does have standing. By definition empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of another person. In this context empathy serves as an indirect way for readers to relive and recall their own experiences.
According to the American Medical Association [AMA] Journal of Ethics, empathy is an emotional experience between an observer and a subject in which the observer, who is a physician in this case, based on the visual and auditory cues, identifies and transiently experiences the subject’s emotional state. Empathy can be seen in all forms and comes in myriad of ways too. For instance, a physician might encounter a patient who appears depressed, expresses a feeling of sadness and informs the physician that a close relative of him had recently passed away. This leads the physician to recall subconsciously his emotional state during a similar situation in which he has lost someone who was once close to him. This allows the physician to understand and connect with the patient in a more deeper state.
Empathy is the ability to identify with or vicariously experience another person’s situation ‘putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Empathizing is both an intellectual and emotional process that makes it far easier to understand and help others solve their problems. Finally empathy is a quality and a skill that all social care works must have (USC, 2012).
Listening can be defined as empathy, silent, attention to both verbal and nonverbal communication and the ability to be nonjudgmental and accepting (Shipley 2010). Observing a patient’s non-verbal cues, for example, shaking or trembling may interpret as an underlying heart condition that may not have been addressed (Catto & Mahmud 2012). Empathy is defined as being mindful of and emotional to the feelings, opinions, and encounters of another (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary 2009 as cited in Shipley 2010). Providing an environment conducive to nonjudgmental restraints allows the patient to feel respected and trusted whereby the patient can share information without fear of negativity (Shipley 2010). For example, a patient who trusts a nurse builds rapport enabling open communication advocating a positive outcome (Baker et al. 2013). Subsequently, repeating and paraphrasing a question displays effective listening skills of knowledge learned (Shipley 2010). Adopting a therapeutic approach to listening potentially increases the patient’s emotional and physical healing outcomes (Shipley 2010). Nonetheless, patients who felt they were genuinely heard reported feelings of fulfilment and harmony (Jonas- Simpson et al. 2006 as cited in Shipley 2010). Likewise, patients may provide
As human service professionals we have to understand that we will have clients from different cultures, socioeconomic classes, and ages. We have to be able to assist all of them without any bias or without pushing our beliefs onto them. Having an understanding that ethical perspectives are subjective, varying across cultures, socioeconomic classes and generations is important in the human service profession so that we are able to provide our clients with the best resources possible for their needs. Ethics may be defined in many different ways, but have to remember that most of the definitions indicate that ethics is a set of guiding principles or moral values (Martin, 2014). We live our lives everyday by a set of ethical values and principles
Rapport and empathy are two essential skills for communication in health services. In this integrative essay, it is displayed how rapport and empathy play an important role for communication in health services, such as counselling and psychotherapy. Empathy helps building rapport with the client. Both skills are needed in counselling, because once the client has found trust in the counsellor there is a bigger chance of them opening up about their feelings. If a client has a good rapport with the counsellor, they are less likely to discontinue the sessions. A five minute non-scripted video is included with this essay and will be referred back to, while describing and discussing rapport building and empathic listening. The video’s content is a first interview with a client, where the client tells the counsellor about a troubling issue. At the end a self-reflection is included, which will reflect upon the video, the challenges faced and future improvements for personal improvement upon communication skills.
Communication in the healthcare setting is fundamental to successful clinical practise. Using skills in communication, nurses are able to build rapport and trust with patients, whilst showing empathy, and a concern for the patient. This trust and rapport with enables the nurse to gather relevant information, understand a patient, and conduct the right assessments and interventions. Beneficial communication in the nurse-patient relationship facilitates appropriate and holistic care, and improved patient outcomes, which are key in the development of a therapeutic relationship where the patient is treated with respect, dignity and autonomy (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia [NMBA], 2017). Throughout the essay, the case study of Mr O’Grady,
Empathy is the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s position and to intuit what that person is feeling (Pink, 2006). Rather than simply sympathizing, empathy enables us to put ourselves into the shoes of another and actually feel what they are feeling. This vicarious sense allows us to better understand people and their experiences. Understanding others and their experiences is vital in education. Whether dealing with different races, religions, sexes, etc., empathy provides us with an avenue to widespread understanding of others that even language cannot.
The dictionary definition of Empathy is the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and attitudes of others. Simply put, empathy is the ability to step into someone else’s shoes, be aware of their feelings and understand their needs. In the workplace, empathy can show a deep respect for co-workers and show that you care, as opposed to just going by rules and regulations. An empathic leadership style can make everyone feel like a team and increase productivity, morale and loyalty. Empathy is a powerful tool in the leadership belt of a well-liked and respected executive (Pressley, 2012).
It is about the personal understanding and treatment of the patient as an individual, interpreting the situation from their perspective. Gain a complete understanding grounded in professional and research-based knowledge of clinical practice; personal reflection and a consciousness of the patient’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. (Olckers, Gibbs & Duncan 2007: 2-3) Empathy involves gaining insight into patients’ backgrounds, core values, relationships and medical history through dialogue. Chochinov 2007: 1877 - 1877. Reflective Dimension:..
Empathy is, having a true understanding and sharing one’s feelings or experience especially my