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The importance of Communication in Healthcare
Communication importance in healthcare
Communication importance in healthcare
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How can health care professions make the patient experience better in a hospital? There are numerous answers to this question, and in this area there is always room for improvement. The responsibility falls onto the employees at the hospital, and the biggest way they can tackle this goal is to have efficient teamwork. This is a broad topic itself, so how might it be achieved? The first step in great teamwork is communication. The next step is to have a strong leader that can bring everyone together. One final step that is important in achieving teamwork is having a group of people that have a common goal. “By its very nature, much of teamwork is distributed across, and not stored within, interdependent people working toward a common goal.” (Gorman, Dunbar, Grimm, & Gipson. 2017) In this case, the common goal should be to better the patient experience. These groups of people--the co-workers, need to be …show more content…
“Effective communication is the foundation for any relationship in healthcare…” (Windover, Boissy, Rice, Gilligan, Velez, & Merlino. 2014) Without communication, it is challenging to get things done because no one knows what the other people in the group are thinking. For some, communication does not come naturally. For this reason, there are articles on how to be a better communicator. According to Karie Tennant, and Alisa Marquez, “communication is a two-way process” (2017). In this process one person should be the informer and the other needs to be an active listener. In order to be an active listener this person needs to provide the informer with feedback on what they just said. This way the informer knows the listener was really listening to what they said. The informer also has the job of making what they want to say clear and concise as well as having the correct tone to get the message across. It is always important for one to voice their opinion, but they need to also be respectful of others
Communication is cited as a contributing factor in 70% of healthcare mistakes, leading to many initiatives across the healthcare settings to improve the way healthcare professionals communicate. (Kohn, 2000.)
Giving team members the opportunity to discuss work progress means you can acknowledge each other’s achievements and celebrate success which is important as it will boost morale in the workplace making it a much better environment to work in and may also increase efficiency.
CIHC explain how communication is demonstrated through listening and non-verbal means. It is by negotiating, consulting, interacting, and discussing with other team members reach a common understanding of the decisions being made (2011). When there is a lack in communication, information can become misunderstood and mistakes and confrontation can arise. Dufrene (2012), has stated how graduate nursing students lack the confidence to communicate with other professionals, this in part with limited opportunities during their clinical experiences. The Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice recognizes how communication places responsibility with all team members. Members must have the opportunity to speak up in a respectful way about their concerns and quality of care, and in return be treated with respect
Communication encompasses a wide range of processes such as the exchange of information, listening, posing of questions (Fleischer et al., 2009) or use of body language. In a healthcare environment where there are constant interactions among nurses, doctors, patients and other health professionals, professional and effective communication is important in ensuring high quality healthcare standards and meeting the individual needs of patients.
There are different forms and reason people communicate in a health and social care environment. Methods of communication used in social care settings range from verbal and non-verbal communication and as such, communication is the exchange of information between people in an organisation (BTEC, 2010). Pearson Education Limited identified the different reasons people communicate which are; to express needs; to share ideas and information; to reassure; to express feelings and/or concerns; to build relationships; socialise; to persuade, argue and inform; to compliment and gain attention; to learn, teach and educate; to ask questions and to share experiences (2013). Hence, Communication is about making contact with others, we communicate to understand and to be understood. Thus, it involves
Understanding that all patients needed to be treated justly and given the opportunity to make decisions in their care is important. Not causing harm and preventing them from harm is also the duty of health care workers. These ethical principles are essential to keep in mind with interdisciplinary communication. Ineffective communication has been associated with medical errors, patient harm, and increase length of stay. Failure to communicate properly has been associated with 79% of sentinel events (Dingley, Daugherty, Derieg & Persing, 2008). Good communication has been shown to improve patient satisfaction, increase in patient safety, as well as a decrease in health care costs (Paget et al.,
Also, the hospital must continue to build trust and keep a clear open form of communication with each employee, the community, and the patients of whom we provide medical services to. This is not always an easy task, but you have to be determined and will-minded that there can be success through productivity if everyone participates as a team. Of course, you will have some employees who feel that they rather work alone, but once they see that teamwork consists of a group, then maybe their demeanor will change for the best and a change will take place within the
“Communication is the heart of nursing… your ability to use your growing knowledge and yourself as an instrument of care and caring and compassion” (Koerner, 2010, as cited in Balzer-Riley, 2012, p. 2). The knowledge base which Koerner is referring to includes important concepts such as communication, assertiveness, responsibility and caring (Balzer-Riley, 2012). Furthermore, communication is complex. It includes communication with patients, patient families, doctors, co-workers, nurse managers and many others. Due to those concepts and the variety of people involved, barriers and issues are present. Knowing how to communicate efficiently can be difficult.
In their pursuit of effectiveness, all organizations must engage in the process of determining what goals and objectives they wish to achieve. Establishing what is important to your organization allows you to invest your resources wisely while avoiding squandering them on trivial matters. Though determining what is important is essential, understanding how you will go about accomplishing those matters is of equal consequence. Without clear strategies to accomplish organizational objectives, team members will work aimlessly. An objective without a strategy is much like taking a road trip with only a destination in mind: the process can be aggravated with wrong turns, wasted gas, lost time, and arguments between travel companions.
Communication involves relaying information from an individual to another through the use of verbal and nonverbal techniques. Many factors affect the effectiveness of information relay. It involves evaluating verbal aspects such as tone of voice, the emotional content being communicated, the timing and rapport of the interaction with patients, and nonverbal techniques such as facial expressions, time invested. It is necessary for productive and satisfactory work environment, improved patient outcomes, and settling conflicts. The purpose of this paper is to identify issues with ineffective communication and ways to improve proper communication throughout the a hospital’s interdisciplinary team and patients.
Effective teams work to establish common goals. These goals are usually the drivers of an effective team when all of the participants are communicating to develop the goals they would all like to achieve. In business, this can be seen when groups set a sales goal and develop a plan of action to achieve this goal. Individuals empowered to approach a goal with their interests in mind as well as the interest of the whole group.
TEAMWORK The teamwork is usually defined as the process of working together in a group to achieve a common goal. These days, working in groups is inevitable. Whether it is a school assignment or working in a clinical setting, we have to work in groups to accomplish a task. We cannot expect to work in isolation all the time. As far as our team is concerned, they worked in an organised manner to accomplish the task within the deadline.
In conclusion communication plays an important role in people’s personal and professional lives. As much as 70 percent of work time is spent communicating with others. Several barriers to communication exist (Wallace & Roberson, 2009, Chapter 4). They range from emotional feelings to physical obstacles that prevent the free flow of information. Effective listening and feedback is a technique that anyone can learn. Anyone tasked with the job of communicating would need to keep in mind the goal of any communication, specifically, to deliver accurate information. By following the simple strategies of communication, anyone can eliminate the frustration of poor communication.
Many of the talents and skills they regularly use on a daily basis will transfer to the project tasks that they may to be assigned.
Many times people forget that teamwork is a combination of the words TEAM and WORK. Which means it takes more than a combined group of people or a team, but it takes that and actions. Positivity, effective skills and effort from each group member. A good team member does their share of work in the group. equity and fairness are key in being a good team member also. A few other characteristics that help a group be successful are , positivity, complimenting other members, communication skills and fairness. By fairness I mean allowing everyone the chance to do something. This group project taught me the ability to be a team player. This is a skill needed to be successful in a group. I feel like it benefit me and my group members because normally