While communicating with patients and relatives is an everyday necessity, proble
ID: 123737 • Letter: W
Question
While communicating with patients and relatives is an everyday necessity, problems persist in: Failure to establish necessary credibility to support belief in important medical facts. Failure to effectively communicate facts. Failure to establish a relationship that is based on the patient's perception of compassionate care.
Have you observed a particularly effective patient communicator? What made them special?
Controversy still arises about the professional uniform - do you think identifying function and establishing credibility by a uniform is more important that reducing formal barriers with more freedom of garb?
Explanation / Answer
Patient communicators are the primary caregivers in a hospital setup. Here the role of a nurse is critical as the nursing staff are the frontlines when a patient reaches. Proper and efficient communications at this point will smooth the way for the patients aftercare and doctor rounds. A good communicator must first listen to their patients by getting down to their frequency and maintaining a steady eye contact while listening. A patient must be made to feel like he or she is special and know that the staff is taking utmost care. In this kind of setup a patient will feel more comfortable and anxiety levels will fall. A good communicator will also withhold any kind of judgemental comments or opinions. This will in turn allow the patient the express more concerns. Use of common layman terms to describe medical conditions will go a long way in establishing patient comfortability. At certain points a good communicator may include another family member in the discussion to ensure that the patient knows that he is not alone.
Controversies do exist with uniforms in medical practise. However it is important to realize that the nursing staff is as human as the patients themselves. It is only to bring in a sense of uniformity and professionalism to the healthcare industry. In turn patients know that they are in safe and professional hands. If a nurse in an uniform is an effective communicator then the barrier of uniform can be easily overcome.
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