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Running head: COMMUNICATION

Communication in the Healthcare Workplace

Márcio Padilha

College of Southern Idaho

ALLH 202 – Janak

Spring/2010

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Communication in the Healthcare Workplace

Communication in the healthcare workplace

Effective communication in the health care workplace can be better implemented, as

means to promote a positive outcome to all involved parties, by observing the following

simple techniques:

1. Effective Speaking:

a. You don’t have to be an accomplished public speaker or the most

engaging conversationalist, but what you can do is use your deep

knowledge and understanding of your profession to offer something

to the conversation. Using your knowledge, take a moment to cull

your thoughts before speaking so that those listening will truly

understand what you have to say.

2. Effective Listening:

a. When your nursing peers or doctors are effectively speaking to you,

pay attention. This is more labor intensive than it seems. Focus on the

speaker so that you are tuned in to body language and facial

expressions – which carry much more meaning than the words by

themselves. If you are busy doing something else and choose not to

really focus on the speaker, you are likely to miss out on the true

meaning of the conversation and create an unnecessary

misunderstanding. When you are spoken to, stop what you are doing

and listen with your ears and eyes.

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3. Feedback:

a. Remember when I mentioned communication was a 2-way street?

Well, feedback is where this idea comes to play. Feedback happens in

two ways: internally and externally. It’s difficult, nay impossible, to

control the internal response (i.e. the way a particular word or phrase

evokes an emotion or memory). But it is possible to control the

external response. Negative feedback includes withdrawing from the

conversation, offering judgmental or over-analytical responses – all of

which lead to the speaker becoming defensive or offended. Positive

feedback includes reassurance, questioning (when done in a

productive manner), and paraphrasing – all of which lead to a

stronger conversation and both parties feeling confident in the

outcome of the interaction.

4. Nonverbal Signals:

a. When anyone talks, the words and sounds produced are only a

small fraction of the overall conversation. Your physical presence

makes all the difference in the world. Many of us know this as

“body language,” but technically speaking, your physical

contributions to a conversation are considered nonverbal signals.

You make facial expressions, your hands move, you settle into a

specific posture or stance – all of these things affect how others

perceive your mood and the true meaning of the words coming

from your mouth.

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More often than not, we ignore these nonverbal signals and miss

out on deeper or possibly even subliminal meanings in the things

being said to us. What can you do to capitalize on nonverbal

signals? Make eye contact. Practice those effective listening skills

we learned earlier in the week, focus on the people speaking to

you and look for the subtle clues. Look at hand gestures, are their

arms folded, do they smile quickly or hold onto a smile for way too

long? Pay attention to these red flags – typically, the message

being delivered by those nonverbal signals are much more

accurate than anything coming from someone’s mouth!

5. Emotional Effect:

a. Communication is a complex, fickle process isn’t it? To complicate

things even more, you must be aware and sensitive to the

emotions of those you are communicating with. More importantly,

you need to be proactive in engaging in communication that

actually shares emotion. The two factors at play here are “I” and

“you” statements. “I” statements immediately make your

communication personal, and therefore set with emotion. These

statements are immediately perceived by those you are

communicating with and will set them at ease to be forthcoming

with their own honest, emotional language. What should you

avoid? Well, “you” statements! When starting a conversation off

with “you,” it immediately places a sense of judgment or blame

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onto the other person and will trigger a defensive response –

effectively killing what could’ve been a great conversation.

6. Assertiveness:

a. I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here, but my opinion is that

assertiveness is the biggest reason for poor communication between

nurses and doctors. Social stigmas, pre-defined roles, you name it – all

of these things have positioned doctors as individuals to be revered

and considered more important than the nurses and surrounding

staff. Conversely, nurses are not as important and should simply do

their duty and let the doctors have the final word. This is a dangerous

recipe for communication – anytime someone has the upper-hand,

that position will be abused and both parties will suffer. Everyone

should communicate with assertiveness. Be honest, use direct

language and defend your position and rights in a positive way. That

being said, this is not a war cry for taking a stand and ignoring the

needs and requests of your co-workers. Being assertive is simply a

tool for you to use to let those communicating with you know that you

mean business and that everyone has a right to their opinion!

Remember your nonverbal signals here too – maintain direct eye

contact and sit/stand straight.

7. Handling Conflict:

a. All of the techniques we’ve discussed up to this point will improve

your workplace communication and allow positive relationships to

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build between doctors and nurses. However, they are not the “perfect

drug” and conflicts can and will still happen. It’s how you handle the

conflict that will prove whether you have actually strengthened those

relationships or not! When conflict arises, don’t panic – and most

importantly – don’t ignore it. Deal with conflict immediately and put

all of your great communication skills to use. Everyone involved in a

conflict should participate in a discussion where the conflict is

brought to light, everyone has a chance to share their opinion and

feelings, everyone has a chance to offer a solution to the problem and

in the end, a solution should be decided upon by all of those

individuals. Democracy at work, folks! It may seem silly, or a time-

suck in a busy day, but it works. Trust me… it really works.

Verbal and non-verbal communication:

Communication is, per definition, “a process of transferring information from one

entity to another”. Conveyed verbally or non-verbally, it is an essential component of all

transactional relationships.

Verbal communication comprises, not necessarily being limited to, mediums, sound,

words, language and etiquette whereas non-verbal communication comprises, again not

necessarily being limited to, physical, aesthetics, signs and symbolism; all of which interact

and have its pros and cons which stem out of emotional and sociocultural issues pertaining

to each individual at the moment the communicational process is taking place.

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Whereas the speaker may know the meaning of an uttered work, the listener, due to

a plethora of reasons, might not. If one reads a message, such communicational process is

divested of tone which, in turn, can lead to another set of problems.

Ideally, one should be familiar with emotional and sociocultural aspects of the

parties involved in the communication process as means to enhance it.

Examples of assertive communication from a patient and from a provider:

Ideally, in order to prevent flaws in the communication errors, one should exercise

socially accepted assertiveness at its zenith. In optimum circumstances, a conscious patient

should inquire about the procedures, i.e. blood transfusions and/or medication injections,

about to be performed to him/her as means to safeguard one’s best interests. On the other

hand, when the patient fails in asserting whether or not his/her best interests are being

carried out, the health care provider should verify, prior to administering any procedure

and/or medication, that doing so will not aggravate the situation.

Define Occupational Safety Defined:

Occupational safety is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the

safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all

occupational health and safety programs is to foster a safe work environment. As a

secondary effect, it may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers,

suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are impacted by the

workplace environment.

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Factors healthcare employees should use to prevent infection:

It is now well recognized that hand hygiene is the primary measure for infection

prevention. Therefore, alcoholic chlorhexidine is available at the end of the patient

bed/trolley, fixed to equipment trolleys, at the entry and exits to wards and departments,

cubicles and clinical rooms and peer scrutiny should be exercised by quiz co-workers on

the five moments of hand hygiene and when to apply alcoholic chlorhexidine hand rub.

Furthermore, many studies have described transmission of pathogenic organisms

through contact with contaminated surfaces. Therefore, adequate cleaning, which requires

sufficient removal of pathogens to minimize patients’ risk of acquiring infections from

hospital environments, may be better attained by credentialing cleaning staff in special

cleaning techniques such as those used when patients, colonized with highly resistant

organisms (e.g.. VRE), are discharged.

Lastly, health care providers should be properly immunized in order to curtail the

spread of cross-contamination.

Characteristics of a healthcare worker:

1. Healthcare Team Orientation:

• This indicates understanding of others; desire to be part of a team and

overall ability to partner closely with others to achieve the best care

for patients.

2. Patient Care Orientation

• This indicates those factors which directly affect the ability to provide

effective, professional-level patient care.

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3. Patient Relations

• This measures Jane's ability to listen to, and respond to, the patient in

an objective and professional manner.

4. Attitude Toward Others

• This indicates the ability to maintain a positive, open and objective

attitude towards others.

5. Freedom From Prejudices

This indicates ability to prevent prejudices from entering into and

affecting an interpersonal relationship.

6. Personal Relationships

This indicates motivation in forming personal relationships with the

people with whom she works

7. Surrendering Control

This indicates the ability to surrender control of a given situation or

outcome to another person or a group of people.

8. Attention To Detail

This indicates Jay's ability to see and to pay attention to details.

9. Proactive Thinking

This indicates the ability to determine the future implications of

current decisions and actions.

10. Project and Goal Focus

• This indicates the ability to stay on target regardless of circumstances.

11. Quality Orientation

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• affinity for seeing details, grading them against a preset standard

(either one’s own or externally assigned), and identifying flaws

12. Empathetic Outlook

This indicates the capacity to perceive and understand the feelings and attitudes of others or to place in the shoes of another.

13. Evaluating What Is Said:

This indicates the openness toward other people and her willingness

to hear what others are saying, rather than what she thinks they

should say or they are going to say.

14. Human Awareness

This indicates the ability to be conscious of the feelings and opinions of others; and to value others as people instead of just as their organizational role or value.

15. Relating To Others

This indicates the ability to coordinate personal insights and

knowledge of others into effective interactions.

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Bibliography:

1. Focus: Infection control and Education. (2009, 10). Retrieved 03 09, 2010, from ProQuest: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1876898461&sid=3&Fmt=6&clientId=3579&RQT=309&VName=PQD

2. Non-Verbal Communication. (2009). Retrieved 03 07, 2010, from Bizmove.com: http://www.bizmove.com/skills/m8g.htm

3. Innermetrix, Inc. (2006). Interview Success Guide - Healthcare Worker ™. Retrieved 03 09, 2010, from Innermetrix, Inc.: http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu5rispZLR1IAADZXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzNXM0Y2ppBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA1IyMDVfMTQz

4. Nurses, A. A. (Director). (2009). Communication in the Healthcare Workplace: A Prescription for Better Care [Motion Picture].

5. Pearson, C. (2009-2010). Characteristics of Verbal Communication. Retrieved 03 07, 2010, from eHow.com: http://www.ehow.com/about_5379632_characteristics-verbal-communication.html

6. Wikipedia. (2010, 03 08). Wikipedia: Occupational Safety. Retrieved 03 09, 2010, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety