The problem of verbal miscommunication has been always the central issue studied in sociolinguistics, sociology, psychology and communication courses. Everybody is aware of certain danger resulting from miscomprehension and its consequences in medical sphere have been claimed to be the most hazardous and insecure ones. Medical treatment requires an accurate and correct delivery of any message between different participants of communication. These participants are physicians, nurses, children, parents and other caretakers. Any breakdown in communication can lead to false prescriptions, inappropriate taking medicines and even mistakes during a surgical intervention. This paper aims to investigate the dependence of treatment success on communication as an essential part of nursing care.
Improvement of communication in nursing can encourage both parties to cooperate more efficiently, trust each other and make the treatment process secure. Patients can get more satisfied with the service and medical care, whereas medical workers are likely to get more engaged and inspired at their work. On the other hand, breakdown in communication can result in such feelings as acrimony, distrust and overall frustration, that can lead to serious errors in the treatment process. Indeed, acrimony and frustration after communicating with physicians and nurses significantly add to the patient’s bad experience and as a result, he or she is likely not to apply for a consultation again. Another consequence of such a problem can be negative impact of patient’s emotional state on the success of a medical procedure. Aggressive communication can make them get really nervous and such a behavior always presents and obstacle for physicians in getting their work done. “Expression of negative emotions may reflect patients’ distress and concerns related to explanatory model of their illness or worries about other distressing life events or they may be an expression of psychopathology which needs attention from the health provider” (Finset, Kale, Skjeldestad, 2013, p. 366).
The whole process of interaction in medical context is based on a notion of credence, because people trust their lives to people, who make Hippocratic oath and promise to save their patients. Besides recognition of privacy, stability, overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism issues, in this oath each medical worker acknowledges that sympathy, warmth and understanding to be sometimes even more important than a chemist’s drug or surgeon’s knife. Unfortunately, very often this fact is forgotten within the medical circles and nurses refuse to care about their patients not only physically, but also emotionally and mentally. Caring means much more than conducting of a certain medical procedure, because this is a kind of interaction, in which both parties learn from each other. Experience and practice have demonstrated that there is something for nurses to learn from patients, they are taught how to care and they necessarily need to listen, not only to the utterances, words, but also the patients’ unspoken bodily response. In this sense, each nurse needs to be a psychologist in order to deliver a high-quality satisfactory medical service. There are always people, who cannot express their feelings and concerns, especially in intercultural communication, but their facial expression and gestures can tell a lot about their physical and moral state. People all over the world suffer from the same illnesses and they are usually detected with the help of the same procedures and equipment, but medical consultation and ways of prescription differ in every country. Therefore, when treating foreign patients, who do not speak English, doctors need to pay additional attention to the non-verbal signs and it is always possible to have an interpreter as a mediator in communication. However, interpreters sometimes act as gatekeepers and can add some incorrect subjective interpretation to messages from both parties. Such a situation “urges academic leaders not only to recruit but also to retain nursing students from diverse backgrounds” (Carver, Lecher, Villarruel, Washington, 2015, p. 58).
Nurses in most cases are the first people patients look for, because they usually have more time, are easily accessible and have in-depth knowledge about the patients’ medical history. But the time constraints are still present in interpersonal communication and they limit the length of consultation. It is very important for nurses to know how to deliver the information promptly, accurately and punctually. Therefore, it is important not to rush, because it can influence the patient’s desire to present the necessary information. At the same time, it is important to answer all questions from the patient, because otherwise the whole consultation will be unsatisfactory and unsuccessful. Patience and high-considerateness communicative style are the most important traits of a good nurse. If a medical worker is nervous, trembling and panics, there is no reason for a patient to keep calm and concentrated. This fact proves that nurses prepare the necessary background for further communication with physician and its success plays a crucial role in the whole treatment process.
Nowadays it has become very popular to expand the curricula for undergraduate nurses with such subjects as Applied Psychology, Interpersonal Communication, Ethical Practice and other related ones. The emphasis of their importance makes future nurses aware of their applicability in their work and the communication gap or breakdown can be significantly reduced. “Psychology has a positive role to play when assisting patients/clients to develop knowledge, understanding, power and choice regarding health and illness” (McCarthy, O’Donovan & Trace, 2014, p. 228). Professional training of communication skills will favor the quality of medical care and many countries, which turn out to have the most credible and reliable medical institutions, invest a lot of time, money and efforts in such courses and professional orientation.
It is also worth mentioning that nurses need to control their bodily language as well and such non-verbal signs as affirmative head nodding, smiling, body positioning and touch very often help to set a friendly and welcoming contact between a medical worker and a patient. They need to find a special way to speak to elderly people, not being rude and impolite. And it is not only about the older people, who need such an approach to their personal needs, but also children and simply sensible people, who face a lot of health problems and have to struggle for their life. Good nurses are always positive, they use to talk to the children the way they are spoken to at home, smile, try to listen, sympathize and support.
References
Carver, N., Lecher, W., Villarruel, A., Washington, D. (2015). A More Diverse Nursing
Force. American Journal of Nursing 115(5), 57-62.
Finset, A., Kale, E., Skjeldestad, K. (2013). Emotional communication in medical
consultations with native and non-native patients applying two different approaches. Patient Education and Counseling 92, 366-374.
McCarthy, B., O’Donovan, M.; Trace, A. (2014). Integrating psychology with interpersonal
communication skills in undergraduate nursing education: Addressing the challenges. Nurse Education in Practice 14, 227-232.
