Effective

Communication
 Communication
• Communication is the exchange of
information, ideas, feelings, and
thoughts.
• Communication helps us know what
the needs of others are and how to
meet those needs.
• Healthcare workers must be able to
communicate with patients, families,
co-workers, other professionals, and
supervisors.
 Types of Communication
• Verbal • Nonverbal
– Words – Gestures
• Written – Facial
• Spoken expressions
• Frowns
• Smiles
– Body
posture/language
– Touch
– Listening
 Elements that Influence
Our Communication with
Others
• Prejudices
– Opinions or biases that affect how you
feel about others and how you relate to
them.
• Frustrations
– Impatience, annoyance, anger, irritation.
• Attitudes
– Disinterest, bored, bad moods.
• Life Experiences
– Knowledge of your own behavior.
 Barriers to
Communication
• Labeling
– Describing a person with a word that limits
them (lazy, stupid, complainer, difficult)
• Sensory Impairment – Physical
disabilities
– Deafness, blindness, speech impairments
• Talking Too Fast
– Especially important when working with
elderly patients.
 Effective Communication
• Health care workers must learn to
put barriers aside and show respect
to all individuals.
• We must learn to see beyond the
surface to the human beings
underneath.
• We must adjust our communication
styles so that patients can
understand.
 Effective Communication
• Developing skills in communication
helps you become a better healthcare
worker.
• It is important always to be courteous
and understanding (polite and
considerate towards others).
• Take time to evaluate gestures, facial
expressions, and tone of voice in order
to understand what is really being said.
– You must attempt to understand and to
listen.
 Elements of
Communication
• Message
– Information, ideas or thoughts.
– What you are trying to convey to
another person.
• Sender
– Individual who creates a message to
send.
• Receiver
– Individual who receives the message
from the sender.
 Elements of
Communication
• All three elements are essential.
Without any one element,
communication cannot occur.
 Feedback
• Used to determine if the
communication is successful.
• Occurs when the receiver responds
to the message.
• Allows the sender to evaluate how
the message was interpreted and to
make any necessary adjustments or
clarification.
• Can be verbal or nonverbal.
 Listening
• Essential part of effective
communication.
• Paying attention to and making an
effort to hear what the other person
is saying.
• Requires constant practice.
• Being a good listener makes you a
better health care worker.
 Listening
• Good listening skills:
– Show interest and concern for what the
speaker is saying.
– Be alert and maintain eye contact with
the speaker.
– Avoid interrupting the speaker.
– Pay attention to what the speaker is
saying.
– Avoid thinking about how you are going
to respond.
 Listening
– Try to eliminate your own prejudices and
see the other person’s point of view.
– Eliminate distractions by moving to a
quiet area for the conversation.
– Watch the speaker closely to observe
actions that may contradict what the
person is saying.
– Reflect statements back to the speaker
to let the speaker know that statements
are being heard.
 Listening
– Ask for clarification if you do not
understand part of a message.
– Keep your temper under control and
maintain a positive attitude.
• Good listening skills also help you
follow directions, make good
observations of patients, and
understand your fellow workers.
 Active Listening Skills
• Reflect on what the sender is
trying to say – think about the
message, not just your response.
• Restate (paraphrase) back to the
sender to let them know they are
being heard and understood.
• Ask for clarification if you do not
understand part of the message.
 Communication Styles
• Assertive Communication:
– An honest and direct way to say what
you feel or think.
– You have the right to be heard and
believed by others.
– You must understand that it is OK for you
and for others to say no when it is
appropriate.
– Does not take power or authority away
from others.
– Empowers you to speak up and be heard.
 Communication Styles
• Passive communication:
– Allows others to control the conversation.
• Aggressive communication:
– Takes power away from others and
communication breaks down.
• Most people communicate in all three
styles, depending on their feelings or
thoughts at the time.
• Most effective style is Assertive.
Nonverbal Communication
• It is not necessary to speak in order to
send a message.
• Health care workers need to be aware
of both their own and patients’
nonverbal behaviors because these
are an important part of any
communication process.
• When verbal and nonverbal messages
agree, the receiver is more likely to
understand the message being sent.
Nonverbal Communication
• Eye Contact
– Lets others know that you are paying
attention.
• Facial Expressions
– Ex: smile, frown.
– Make sure that the verbal message
matches your facial expression.
Nonverbal Communication
• Gestures
– Motions of a part of the body to express
feelings or emotions.
– Ex: shrugging your shoulders, turning your
back, leaving the room while someone is
talking – convey lack of interest.
• Touch
– Can convey great caring and concern or
rejection and anger.
– Touch can convey more interest and caring
than words could ever do.
 Verbal Communication
• Spoken messages:
– Tone of your voice, language you use,
and the message you send are all
interpreted by the receiver.
– Always speak clearly and concisely.
• Written messages:
– Spell correctly, use proper grammar,
and write in a clear, concise manner.
 Telephone
Communication
• Answer the telephone cheerfully and
promptly.
– Use a pleasant, caring, and sincere tone
of voice.
– Speak clearly and courteously.
– Identify yourself and give your title.
– Identify your department or office.
– Thank the caller for calling.
– Allow the caller to hang up first to ensure
that they have said everything they
wanted.
 Five Fundamentals of
Service
• As you interact with patients and
their families you can provide them
with good customer service by
following these service
fundamentals:
1. Acknowledge
– Friendly greetings, eye contact, smile.
2. Introduce
– Introduce yourself and what role you
have in the patient's care.
 Five Fundamentals of
Service
3. Duration
– Let patient and family know about
anticipated wait times.
4. Explanation
– Explain what the patient or family can
expect during the visit/procedure.
5. Thank You
– Thank the patient and family for
visiting.
 Recording and Reporting
• In health care, an important part of
effective communication is
reporting or recording all
observations while providing care.
• Your ability to observe patient
behavior and symptoms will
directly affect their care.
 Observation
• All of your senses are used to make
observations.
– Sense of sight: color of skin, swelling, presence
of a rash or sore, color of urine or stool, amount
of food eaten, and other similar factors.
– Sense of smell: body odor, unusual odors of
breath, wounds, urine, or stool.
– Sense of touch: pulse, dryness or temperature
of the skin, perspiration, swelling.
– Sense of hearing: listen to respirations,
abnormal body sounds, coughs, and speech.
 Types of Observation
• Subjective Observation
– Cannot be seen or felt. They are ideas,
thought, or opinions.
– Commonly called symptoms.
– Usually statements or complaints made
by the patient.
• Report in the exact words used by the
patient.
 Types of Observation
• Objective Observation
– Can be measured, seen, felt, heard, or
smelled.
– Commonly called signs.
 Reporting
• Observations should be reported
promptly and accurately to an
immediate supervisor.
• Reporting unusual events or any
change in behavior or condition is
every health care worker’s
responsibility.
• Relevant information should be
reported in its order of occurrence.
 Documentation
• A record of the patient’s progress
throughout treatment.
• Many people are responsible for
documenting information on patients.
• Documentation must be accurate,
concise, and complete.
– Writing should be neat and legible.
– Spelling and grammar should be correct.
 Documentation
• All records must contain certain
information:
– Patient name, address, age, identification
#.
– Diagnosis and physician’s orders.
• Other information may be required:
– Care or treatment given and how patient
tolerated it.
– Time of treatment.
– Observations that would be helpful to
other health care workers.
 Documentation
• All documentation must be signed
with the name and title of the
person recording the information.
• Errors should be crossed out neatly
with a straight line, have “error”
recorded by them, and show the
initials of the person making the
error.
• Patient documentation is a legal
record, admissible in a court of law.
 Documentation
• If you do not write it down, it did not
happen!
• Use ink for all documentation.
• Entries should be in short phrases.
You do not need to write in complete
sentences.
• Time should be recorded in military
(24 hour) time.
 Technical Writing
• Any writing designed to describe
and inform about how something
works.
• A really good technical writer
(communicator) takes difficult
scientific and technical language
and transforms it into concepts that
are easy to grasp and instructions
that are easy to follow.
 Technical Writing
• You might be surprised to realize just how
much of the information you encounter
each day comes from a technical writer’s
keyboard:
– ATM display messages
– Application forms for a loan
– Rules for playing games
– Instructions for heating a frozen dinner
– Policies in your company’s employee
handbook
– Safety notices and warnings of all kinds
 Technical Writing and
Health Care
• Medical writers – Health care
work in diverse magazines
settings and have a – Medical
newspapers,
wide range of
newsletters and
responsibilities: articles
– Regulatory – Medical web sites
documents
– Patient education
– Clinical study
materials
protocols
– Marketing and
– Drug brochures
advertising
– Research papers materials
 Tips for Good
Technical Writing
1. Select appropriate format for the
document.
2. Organize material logically.
3. Prepare user-friendly instructions.
4. Use graphics to enhance technical
information.
5. Zero in on your reader’s needs.
6. Revise the work based on feedback to
ensure the correct message is being
received.
 Written Communication
• All written communications should
be evaluated to make sure that the
correct message is being sent.
– Is the appropriate response to the
message being given by the receiver?
• Always ask for feedback to
continually improve written
communication.
 Summary
• Good communication skills allow
health care workers to develop good
interpersonal relationships.
• Patients feel accepted, they feel that
others have an interest and concern
in them, they feel free to express
ideas and fears, and they develop
confidence in the health care workers.
• Part of providing quality health care.