Nursing Communication Essay

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Communication involves the exchange of information between two or more people. Whether verbal or nonverbal, communication serves as the bridge that allows people to share ideas and thoughts. Clinical professionals converse with patients, relatives, and other professionals daily. Conversely, despite having multiple encounters with patients every day, physicians fail to enact the necessary communication and interpersonal skills to effectively listen, instill confidence, and promote following medical advice in patients.
Listening requires active participation to development a shared understanding and minimize misinterpretation. Some physicians possess conversational skills that would be considered downright rude. They constantly interrupt their …show more content…

Non-verbal cues weigh heavily regarding patients’ ability trust doctors; they need to believe the doctor exhibits empathy for their situation. For instance, failure to initiate eye contact suggest coldness and a lack of interest. (Gartland, p. 23) Furthermore, many patients believe doctors are arrogant. (Gartland, p.23) A despondent child in Duke’s Pediatric Emergency Department belted at a resident, “You think you know everything!” Patient mistrust intensifies as a result of the doctors’ pretentious tone. Again, despite the personal nature of their profession, doctors frequently pontificate. (Gartland, p. 25) Physicians’ boastful tone suggest that the patient’s opinion is no longer important. Consequently, patients lose aith in the doctors’ ability to cater to their specific …show more content…

Dr. Ellis, a physician in Duke University’s Medical Center Pediatric Emergency Department, exemplifies excellent listening skills and stresses the importance of communication in healthcare to shadow students. He emphasized, “Your nonverbal communication is important in this field. As you enter a room, introduce yourself and don’t yell; you should treat the patient as if they were your own child or cousin.” Ellis keeps the mood funny and light hearted; as a result, patients trust his judgement. Likewise, Dr. Ellis simplifies all the medical terms –even those words or phrases considered common knowledge such as, IV and ultrasound. Nevertheless, Dr. Ellis is only one of hundreds of thousands of doctors. Even in the midst of Dr. Ellis’ communication awareness, there were several doctors and residents in the Pediatric emergency department that failed to even acknowledge their patients as they entered the hospital

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