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Communication for the nurse is as important as any other skill. The most used ability is communication. Just think about it, you have a patient who is post-op, they have not urinated in six hours, they are distended, and bladder scanner shows they have 575 ml of urine in their bladder. The order states to in and out catheterize them or straight catheterize them. If the nurse goes in there and performs the needed intervention, not only would that be weird but you may have some patient complaints. The patient should be educated on the post-op procedures and the surgeon’s orders when they came to the room. A simple explanation that they need to urinate within the time window if urination does not occur then we bladder scan if so much urine is found we straight cath or in and out catheterize the patient. Then when the time comes for the intervention, explanation of each step of straight catheterization needs to be explained to the patient. But, communication is a skill that takes both parties to grasp; the communicator needs to be perceived in the correct tones and message by using the right methods.
#1 Being Astute to the Patient
When the patient is talking or answering questions, there are two methods to use here active listening and silence. Active listening does not only mean to listen to the patient but also to appear to be listening to the patient. What I mean by that, is in this digital work we live in you might be documenting when asking questions and you are staring at a screen. The patient will begin to think that you are not sincere, and may hold back information or not want to answer anything. Active listening includes eye contact, nodding, and other questions to fully understand what the patient is saying. Active listening also allows the nurse to observe any body language that might be telling another story, are they fearful, tearful, or giving you answers that might not be truthful. Silence is another method but must be used appropriately. Silence used to give patients time to think and gather the right words will aide the patient in presenting all the information and not feel rushed. When used inappropriately can come off as if the nurse doesn’t know what they are doing, or unsure the next question to ask, this will become awkward.
#2 Asking the Right Questions
Asking the right question is a very broad subtopic and could probably be explored and described in its blog post. First, let’s talk about Broad opening statement and open-ended questions, a broad-opening statement is a question like, “what brings you in today?” this opens the conversation to the patient to explain freely in whatever content is the most comfortable to the patient. An open-ended question, like “how did that make you feel?” Will allow the patient to express thoughts, feelings, and respond without barriers. Both are great when you are just meeting a patient, or not sure what has happened. The closed questions are the ones that will help pull more focused answers to fill out the story or even better. These questions include answers like yes or no, and more direct questions with one answer, “Are you nauseated now?” or “What did you eat for lunch?”. Offering leads is an open-ended question used to encourage them to continue to talk. Throughout the interview process there is always clarifying the meaning behind what the patient is trying to say, to fully understand the message they are sending, restating the patients exact words back to them, reflecting the statement to them to understand the thought and emotions, paraphrasing the essential to the patient to really understand their precise message.
#3 Acknowledging the Patient
Acknowledging the patient, by this I mean while they are talking perceive they are interesting, that the story, events, or information is relevant. Many people if they feel that what they are saying is not interesting they will cease the conversation or not contribute all the important details to the interviewer. While listening to them you must always show acceptance to the material provided by the patient. Do NOT express any judgment to the patient. When people feel they are being judged they will not give you the whole story. Your prejudices need to be let go, the patient’s lifestyle and choices are theirs and everyone experiences are different, a choice they might not have made if given a different back story.
There is more to go into this topic; communication is in each interaction with a client or patient. Some people can pick up and communicate with ease where others may need to understand and practice these skills to be able to deliver the most effective. Do you feel you can communicate effectively?
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Also, check out Life events and the student nurse and Communication 101: The basics