Nursing Communication For Health Professionals: Effective Strategies For Counselling Patients

The Importance of Communication in Healthcare

Discuss about the Nursing Communication For Health Professionals.

Communication is the exchanging or imparting of knowledge, beliefs, values, opinions and thoughts with the help of speech, symbols, signs and another channel of communication. Communication helps to build up a stronger relationship between humans. One such relation that is effectively strengthened by communication is the healthcare provider and receiver (patient) relationship (O’Toole, 2016). As per the statistical analysis of Australian General Practice consultation, two-third of healthcare problems are managed with good communication without involving any medical treatment process.

This essay focuses on effective communication that as a healthcare counsellor I should adopt for better connectivity with study patient named Nicos suffering from depression. The study focuses on communication model, strategies, barriers and their solutions that can help counsellor for effective communication with Nicos. This critical reflection on communication along with analysis and synthesis of the case can help in establishing better healthcare professional-patient relationship.

Healthcare profession is a complex profession that requires a variety of skills to handle a variety of human body and mind as per their vulnerability. One such skill that should be extremely variable for successful counselling is communication. This communication helps to influence patient perception and attain information in counselling. Communication works as the major tool to provide therapeutic treatment. Therefore, to develop variable and effective communication skill the professional follow certain communication models as per patient requirement (Bond, 2015).

In the provide case, Nicos is an old age male suffering a stage of depression and anxiety due to his change in regular schedule, lacking physical activity, unhappiness and loneliness. Nicos underwent a modification in his long time regular schedule where he was a busy whole day in his farms to a dormant life where he had nothing to do on regular basis. However, this seems to be the simple case of counselling but the major complication in the Nicos case is his unwillingness to get involved in counselling process where he is even uncomfortable in talking about the antidepressant.

There are different models of communication that are developed as per the communication requirement. According to Warnecke (2014), the most popularly used communication model in healthcare profession is the linear model of Weaver, constructionist model, interactive model and transactional model of communication. In the provided case, the “Transactional Model” of communication is considered best to develop effective communication with Nicos and provide counselling treatment. Martin et al. (2015) indicated that transactional model is the most common model of communication used by humans in day-to-day process where one remains sender and other remains receiver of the message with or without a channel. Some of the common examples of transactional communication are talking with friends or group, discussions etc. This model is helping to determine the social reality of any person as per their relational, social and cultural context.

Effective Communication Strategies for Counselling Nicos

In the case of Nicos, as he is not willing to get involved in counselling therapy this model can work in the most general manner to establish the healthcare-patient relationship. The common form of transactional communication is the verbal response. This verbal response between counsellor and patient helps to understand cultural, social and psychological perceptions of the patient. As a counsellor, employing the transactional model of communication in case of Nicos can help to understand his perception for not getting involved in the therapy process. The transactional communication can help to understand the social identity, psychological thoughts and environmental context of the patient. According to Warnecke (2014), this communication model is considered best for interpersonal communication.

Martin et al. (2015) indicated that in transactional communication both sender and receiver are communicators and they interchange their roles to create an environment of equality for exchanging thoughts. Therefore, interchanging thoughts with Nicos can help to overcome his negativity about counselling treatment. Further, by interchanging thoughts, it would be easier to control his depression and divert his attention towards other things. Martin et al. (2015) studied that transactional model unlike other communication model involves simultaneous feedback from the receiver. Hence, this simultaneous feedback will help counsellor to keep Nicos involved in the communication process. Therefore, as per Nicos condition transactional model of communication is the best model for his therapeutic counselling process.  

As a professional counsellor, I needed to build a relationship with the patient like Nicos because he is not willing to participate in the treatment process. As per my experience and knowledge, depression can be easily handled with good personal interaction and relationship with the patient. Warnecke (2014) indicated that as per statistical evidence exercise, antidepressant and other treatment sources are less effective than an intelligent communication between patient and doctor. Further, Olsson et al. (2014) opine about some of the most common techniques that support interpersonal relationship and effective communication that are eye contact, patient encouraging, active listening and attentive posture of the counsellor. Alongside, empathy is another important skill that helps counsellor to develop trust in patient’s perception.

For developing a workable relationship with Nicos, I can adopt some workable habits like active listening, providing respect to the patient, personalising style, being competent, self-disclosure and managing my speed. Through active listening, it will be easy to understand Nicos story and understand his world. Further, as Nicos belongs to Greek-Australian community it would be workable for me to manage my speed as per his cultural perception. This would help in better understanding of his personal and sensitive issues. As Nicos is a 65-year-old man, giving proper respect to him is another essential component to establish a workable relationship. Martin et al. (2015) indicated that incompetent behaviour is best was to destroy a counselling relationship. Therefore, I need to maintain the best competency for managing Nicos. Lastly, as Nicos is a mature adult, the self-disclosure of personal information can also help to build a good rapport with him in the counselling process.

Transactional Model of Communication for Patient Counselling

As per Transactional communication model standards, I will adopt the two most effective communication strategies that are verbal and non-verbal strategies to communicate with Nicos (Nelson-Jones, 2015). According to Warnecke (2014), the verbal communication with the depressed patient can be performed by providing education, clarifying thoughts, developing hope for the present and validating feelings of the patient. In case of Nicos, developing eye contact and affectionate touch that can develop empathy for effective verbal communication. I can try to make him aware of his present situation by providing verbal education because Nicos is not aware about his present situation that’s why he is avoiding counselling process. Olsson et al. (2014) studied that most common symptoms of depression are weight loss or gain, sleep disorder, lacking concentration, lack of energy, interest and pleasure in daily activities etc. Nicos is showing symptoms like lack of energy, enthusiasm, interest and pleasure, hence providing education will help him understand and accept his present situation.

As the most common form of verbal communication, I can implement a questionnaire session where Nicos will be asked questions related to his present situation, his feelings, doubts and emotions as a part of counselling care. Further, alongside verbal communication, I will adopt non-verbal communication strategies like a smile, eye contact, affectionate touch, positive encouragement, facial expression, sharing silence, soft voice tone and establishing his personal space. As Nicos is an elder person, therefore these non-verbal communication strategies will surely work to establish a respectful and effective communication with him.

Now, the most critical part of attaining effective communication is the barriers that change from patient to patient. Martin et al. (2015) studied that counsellor-patient relationship is highly dependent on communication but barriers like age, gender, different perceptions, lack of interest, language, physical, psychological and socio-cultural factors generally hinder the process. Communication is highly dependent on these factors and therefore a counsellor needs to manage these barriers for forming a perfect rapport with their patient.

In this case of Nicos, the barriers that can affect communication are the age difference, language barrier, psychological perception about counselling and cultural difference. As Mr. Nicos is an elder person it would be tough for me to form a friendly bond with him because there is a huge age difference between both of us. This age difference can create conflict in our attitude and psychological beliefs. As Nicos belong to a native Australian Greek culture there are barriers like language and cultural perception difference among both of us. Further, Nicos consider counselling for mental illness as a not acceptable phenomenon because he is a farmer who had a low-socio economic background. Therefore, he is not able to understand that mental illness is like any other physical illness that needs cure. Therefore, his perception about counselling also works as a barrier in the therapy process.

To overcome the barrier of language and difference in cultural perception I will refer to a healthcare translator who can help us in communication. Further, a senior counsellor can also help me to understand the perception of old age patient. Therefore, I will refer them to attain knowledge from their experience to handle old age people. Further, some of the ethical considerations that are required to be followed in case of Nicos are responsibility, client respect, client autonomy, confidentiality and developing a high level of competence to handle his experience as an elder person.

In the above research, it is clear that each and every patient requires a specific kind of communication in counselling practice. The research analysis and synthesis using different study resources clearly prove that communication is a variable skill that requires modification as per patient’s perception, requirement, illness and other sensitivities of life. The academic resource along with critical analysis, senior experience and help from other colleagues is my strategic way to perform effective communication with Nicos.

References

Books

Bond, T. (2015). Standards and ethics for counselling in action. New York, United States: Sage.

Nelson-Jones, R. (2015). Basic counselling skills: a helper’s manual. New York, United States: Sage.

O’Toole, G. (2016). Communication EPUB: Core Interpersonal Skills for Health Professionals. United States: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Journals

Martin, L., Hutton, E. K., Gitsels-van der Wal, J. T., Spelten, E. R., Kuiper, F., Pereboom, M. T., & van Dulmen, S. (2015). Antenatal counselling for congenital anomaly tests: An exploratory video-observational study about client–midwife communication. Midwifery, 31(1), 37-46.

Olsson, E., Ingman, P., Ahmed, B., & Sporrong, S. K. (2014). Pharmacist–patient communication in Swedish community pharmacies. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 10(1), 149-155.

Warnecke, E. (2014). The art of communication. Australian family physician, 43(3), 156.