Assignment Writing - Investigating Communication Behavior of Nurses Sample Work

1






INVESTIGATING COMMUNICATION BEHAVIOUR
OF NURSES WHILE INTERACTING WITH PATIENTS







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Introduction
Across several professional domains,
communication is of utmost importance. This
is
true particularly in the domain of nursing.
Generally, establishing an effective
communication
pattern with patients is vital within the domain
of nursing (Coats et al., 2018). Nursing staff
with
communication skills can identify patients
healthcare needs. Highly meaningful communication
with patients allows nursing staff to
acquire detailed knowledge about each
patient and their
individual attributes (Sibiya, 2018). In fact,
positive nurse-patient relations comprise of a
variety
of communication behaviours in nursing practice
and are an integral aspect while delivering high
quality nursing care (Hemberg Vilander, 2017).
In the healthcare sector, it is essential
that nurse practitioners are sensitive to
patient
requirements, while non-verbally or verbally
communicating with patients (Kwame Petrucka,
2020). Nordby (2016) postulate that, in
nurse-patient communication scenarios where there
is an
absence of a mutual verbal language,
communication happens nonetheless either by
body
language or through eye contact. Regardless
of their cultural fabric, people possess
specific
values, traditions and symbols. Given the
situation, it is necessary that nurses perceive
patients
with due dignity while taking into account their
individual requirements. Patients requirement
usually originates from their individual
cultures (Hölzel et al., 2016). Nonetheless,
it is also
necessary that nursing professionals possess
particular knowledge and understand patients
requirements and perspectives with regards to
caring, as patients perceptions would
significantly
differ from that of a nursing professional.
That the process of communication is
reciprocal has been extensively acknowledged.
This reciprocal nature would mean, sending and
receiving messages facilitated through verbal
and non-verbal signals. Arestedt et al. (2018)
suggest that in a complex association like
that of nurse-patient, communication is much
more that information exchange. As a matter of
fact, it would also include, an exchange of
feelings, recognizing feelings and enabling
patients
to know that their feelings have been
rightly interpreted. This paper has tried
to capture
communication behaviours of nurses during
interactions with their patients.
Communication
behaviours here have been bifurcated into four
distinct themes which comprise of attending

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behaviour, humour, communicative behaviour and
empathetic communication behaviour.

Attending Behaviour
Attending behaviours can be explained as a
physical representation of accessibility by
nurses and their willingness to listen to
patients using non-verbal communication (Wang et
al.,
2018). Attending behaviour is deemed as a
procedure that revolves around the patient and
the
basic
scenario
required
by
a
nursing
practitioner
to
enable
nursing
would
comprise
of
genuineness, warmth and empathy (Kraft-Todd et
al., 2017). Though patients would not directly
refer to attending, it describes communicative
behaviour, particularly those which are valued
and specific to attending. Given the situation,
it is the onus of a nurse to be aware about power
imbalance, recognize scenarios that can be
intimidating to patients while establishing
therapeutic
relations. This type of awareness enables
nurses to setup and maintain proper
boundaries.
Sommers-Flanagan (2016) state that attending
behaviours in a nurse-patient association makes
up the base for interviewing. For ensuring
success, it is necessary for nurses to
accord due
attention to their patients in ways that are
culturally as well as individually apt.
In case there is disruption in the thought
process, behaving as well as feeling might
emerge as ways that are projected by
individuals on their own. Specific knowledge
and skills
with regards to listening (attending) is a vital
component in identifying this kind of disruptions
(Hardavella et al., 2017). Here, attending would
refer to the intensity of presence on the whole,
or expending time, or being physically
present with a patient. In many situations,
an act like
being in the company of another person
experiencing pain, or is passing through a
painful period
could make a vast difference. The level of
attending could be indicated through some cues
that
are non-verbal and would comprise of the posture
of nurse (forward inclined position with arms
at the sides), the level or degree of eye contact
between nurse and patient, nurses body language
(relaxed while interacting with patient and
evaluation of patients response to nurses
behaviour)
(Sibiya, 2018). An aspect that needs to be noted
is that body language, posture and eye contact of
nurses are mostly influenced through culture and
it needs to be assessed based on cultural norms
of patients.

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Humour
The use of humour would be in contrast
with nursing codes that exist in the
nursing
domain. However, utilizing humour could be
beneficial to nurses while considering patients
as
individuals and setting up a therapeutic
association between nurses and patients. There
are many
who perceive humour as a medium of communication,
and it is also considered as a subjective
emotional response (Sousa et al., 2019). It
could also have a multidimensional value as far
as
provision of treatment to patients is
concerned. It might be a result of the
recognition and
expression of incompatibilities during
scenarios that are comic, impulsive or even
absurd,
remark, action or characteristics that conveys a
feeling of closeness when distributed in a trust
based environment between nurses and patients. In
instances where humour is used by nurses as
a communication medium, it could be highly
advantageous to setup a natural relationship at
the
time of interaction with patients and result in
major holistic benefits.
When humour is used within a healthcare
setting, it could be effective in
facilitating
nurses to create a bond with patients at a
personal level. Almeida and Nunes (2020) opined
that
inclusive humour not just motivates
interaction with patients but it also results
in establishing
peer support and bonding. This would be
specifically advantageous for patients who are
not very
familiar or comfortable in a healthcare
environment. Creating an environment for patients
that is
comfortable and secure would be helpful to nurses
too especially considering that they work in
stressful environments.

Communicative Behaviour
Nurse-patient interactions are usually complex
and one of the possible drawback that can
emerge is miscommunication. This holds true
in case of patients understanding about
their
prognosis, care objectives, and treatment
expectations (Moodbidri, 2017). These are
major
aspects that can influence choices that
patients make regarding their end-of-life
care and
treatment too, which has implications on their
condition too. In situations where communicative
behaviour is practiced by nurses, it allows
patients to perceive and deem themselves as being
an
active part of discussions pertaining to their
health. At the same time, patients are also
expected
to
use
communicative
behaviours
wherein
on
their
part
they
need
to
communicate
all
information regarding their ailments, experience
or anything that concerns their health.
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Empathetic Communication Behaviour
Empathetic communication behaviour is a
communication process where the focus is
mainly on emotional engagement between nurse and
patients (Babaii et al., 2021). As a concept,
empathy is rather multidimensional in nature and
includes behavioural, emotional, cognitive and
moral components linked to it (Bettelli, 2017).
It is implied that empathetic people (nurses, in
this instance) understand the notions indicated,
in tandem with feelings which exist in the other
person (patients, in this instance). Empathy
signifies a key focus along with feeling and in
the
patients world. It would be inclusive of
accurately identifying a patients condition,
their
perspectives and feelings, communicating their
perceptions to patients and cross-checking with
patients for accuracy, taking action on their
understanding such that it is helpful and
therapeutic
to patients. There could be a biological angle to
empathetic behaviour. This is characterized with
the discovery of the mirror neuron where it has
been suggested by Acharya and Shukla (2012),
that actions noticed from others could be
mapped by the nervous system onto the
premotor
cortex of the self. It has been suggested that
there could be a right hemisphere mirroring
system
that could provide a neural substrate for
empathy.
As per nursing care constructs, an
empathetic behaviour is the main component
in a
nurse-patient relationship. This can be applied
for improved functioning patient and for patient
who functions at a level which is comparatively
primitive. It has been observed through a review
of nursing literature that empathy has five
conceptualizations professional state, caring
process,
special association, human trait and
communication process. Many nursing
practitioners have
considered empathy from diverse perspectives
(Terezam et al., 2017). Certain nurses
consider
empathy from the perspective of time frames,
while others perceive it at empathy measurements
and then there are some who consider
outcomes when empathy was evident. Empathy,
as a
notion can be deemed as collecting and
maturing more in depth and breadth. Though
every
notion of empathy is considered as valuable
particularly within nurse-patient
communication
behaviour, there is a possibility that a
highly advanced and mature notion of
empathetic
behaviour would ultimately emerge.
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Conclusion
Communication is a vital facet in nursing
and establishing a positive nurse-patient
association is essential to deliver high
quality nursing care. When there is clarity
during
communication between nurse-patients, it
indicates that information is conveyed in an
effective
manner among individuals. With a view to be
successful as a nursing practitioner, it is
suggested
to have effective communication skills. Nurses
are known to communicate with several people
with varied education levels and from
different cultural and social backgrounds.
In such a
situation, they are expected to ensure that
communication is effective, professional and
caring.
This is of specific significance at the
time of communicating with patients and
their families.
However, communication is often challenging. But
it has been evidenced through studies from
the past that nurses are good at communicating
with patients especially when a patient-centric
approach is adopted. Adopting and practicing
a patient-centric approach can only be
possible
when
nursing
practitioners
comprehend
and
acquire
knowledge
about
appropriate
communicative behaviours that they can use
with patients. Communicative behaviours like
humour, attending, empathetic and others
would motivate and nurture proper
communication
among patients and nurse and thereby ensure
delivery of proper nursing care.
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