Interprofessional And Effective Interpersonal Communication

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As a patient educator and chronic disease manager, nurses—providers of health knowledge—can adhere to a simple research supported hypothesis: curtailing HL demands on patients abates adverse health outcomes and enhances patient compliance with the plan of care. Johnson (2015) elucidates that reciprocal and effective interpersonal communication (IPC) between interprofessional team members and patients is fundamental for safe, high-quality care; consequently, ineffective communication is the primary etiology of adverse events and complaints regarding health care (p. 22). Enriched IPC begins with nurses who understand the concepts of both HL and FL, in addition to assessing (self-examining) how they organize, present information, and communicate …show more content…

There is a substantial debate with respect to employing a Universal Precaution approach: applying specific HL strategies and interventions to all clients—assuming all people have difficulty comprehending health-related information—to minimize the risk for everyone when it is uncertain which individuals may be affected (Johnson, 2015, p. 22). Nurses have an ethical and professional responsibility to adopt evidence-based and culturally competent HL strategies into practice to curtail HL demands universally for all patients. This student theorizes that time constraints for the interprofessional team lead to inadequate communication between providers and patients; however, a concerted team effort and utilizing the necessary time is far more cost-effective than treating preventable chronic disease. Similar to other nursing roles (e.g., delivering culturally competent care) nurses have the responsibility to simplify, convey, teach, and clarify health information provided by other interprofessional team members (Johnson, 2015, …show more content…

23).
According to Poureslami, Rootman, Pleasant, & FitzGerald (2016) there is a global and national appreciation that chronic disease management (CDM) can be improved through strengthening the HL skills of patients as well as the IPC skills of the interprofessional team (pp. 230–231). There are unique initiatives nursing professionals and other providers are employing to bridge the gap between health literacy and chronic disease management. These initiatives include some of the following strategies:
 Enacting patient engagement focus groups for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma; the focus groups will help assess patient willingness to be involved in research projects and initiatives related to their chronic conditions.
 The Respiratory Patient-Oriented Research Network (RPRN): the RPRN is utilized by chronic disease patients to foster community and healthcare partnerships.
 The Center for Health Literacy and Cultural Competency in Chronic Respiratory Disease Management: This center will encourage future generations of healthcare professionals to integrate HL into chronic disease

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