Miscommunication in Nursing

Miscommunication in Nursing Duerksen 2013 posits that the issue of miscommunication in nursing industry has been a burning issue over the years and it has caused considerable damage among patients and the doctors. . Being a challenge in the medical field, more especially with nurses, it is crucial to evaluate and reevaluate it and come up with remedies which will reduce the problem if not solving it. The nursing profession carries loads of responsibilities and nurses through their undivided care and attention they can heal therefore proving them to be important people in the society. When one talks of miscommunication in nursing, it may be taken as a serious challenge to the nurses, but basically, the miscommunication is just like any other miscommunication that may occur elsewhere. However, due to the sensitivity of condition which the miscommunication appears, it may have devastating effects though at times people will over exaggerate and make nurses to appear as irresponsible people (Duerksen 19). This essay tries to refute the assumption and stereotypes that asserts that nurses are careless and bad communicators and thats why they cause problems and misunderstanding in the hospital. Its true that there may be miscommunication but it should be noted that miscommunication does not only happen in hospitals but they can happen anywhere and therefore, we should put all the blame to the nurses whenever there is a problem in the hospital(ibid). Problems may occur where by the nurse is unable to carry out her duties efficiently as a result of communication barriers that are likely to be present. According to the recent research on medical staff, it shows that there is acute shortage of nurses which is attributed to the increased aging population. Therefore, the demand surpasses the supply of professionals and this becomes one of the challenges facing the industry. This translates to higher patient ration per one nurse and the quality of the service offered must go down. The increased population will culminate to cases of miscommunication since one nurse manages to communicate effectively to all the patients in the ward.in attempt to comprehend the concept miscommunication in nursing lets evaluate some of the causes which will eventually give us lime light to what we are talking about(https://www.academia.edu/2854210/THEPROBLEMOFMISCOMMUNICATION.). According to Landon 2007, Shortage of personnel in the profession of nursing can result to challenges in communication. The major challenge that nurses face is the inability to understand English language. The large staff of nurses in USA today is foreigners and they may not understand English properly. The barriers can be patient and the nurse or the nurse and the doctor. If the nurse lacks good command of English language, she will not be able to communicate and attend to the patient effectively hence terming it as a great challenge. However, when the nurse has good command of language, she will be able to communicate properly and the problem of miscommunication will not be mentioned. Similarly, if the nurse is not to understand the doctor, there is underlying risk in the life of the patient because the nurse will not follow instructions and she might give the patient wrong dosage of the medicine (Landon 44). Language barrier may also, be evident when medical terms are used when the nurse and the patient are communicating (Landon 2007 pg. 34). Majority of the patients do not understand the medical terms therefore they may not know what the nurse wants to say. Therefore, it is important when nurses are talking to use very simple and elaborate language which the patient will easily understand hence effective communication. If any case a medical term has been used, they should be ready to offer an explanation immediately so that the patient understands. More also, nurses tend to make a mistake of not involving the doctor whenever they are talking about a situation of a patient. The patient should be first person to report what he or she is feeling if at all can communicate. When the patient is not interrogated about his condition he feels that he is ignored which is not acceptable. A nurse should be that kind and good person that the patient feels free whenever he is around. Therefore, a good rapport should be established between a patient and the nurse to facilitate open relationship between the two (ibid). Differences in culture have also been known to be a barrier to communication especially between the patient and the nurse. Some cultures put restrictions on how an individual should be touched or exposed and so on. If the nurse is unaware of the latter he or she can make the patient very uncomfortable hence causing a distraction. Some cultures perceive some illness as normal and therefore they may not inform the nurse of the symptoms and this becomes an impediment to their recovery. Emotional stress is also another factor that may contribute miscommunication. Nurses who normally deal with emotional stress and trauma may tend to have difficulty in expressing their feelings and perceptions towards particular situations hence causing miscommunication in none way or the other (https://www.academia.edu/2854210/THEPROBLEMOFMISCOMMUNICATION) Ineffective handoff is also another reason why there cases of miscommunication among patients and nurses and nurses and doctors. For instance, when a nurse who was working on a night shift hands over to the nurse who is working during the day, it is important for the nurse to follow up keenly otherwise, she will not get the correct information. The file of every patient should be handled over correctly and this will ensure that no information or detail that is left out concerning the patient. Constellation of all these issues culminates to a great challenge in communication though we have seen that not all are nurse oriented. Some are patient oriented therefore refuting the stereotype that nurses are bad communicators. Miscommunication in the field of nursing has resulted to tragic events where patients are mostly the victims. When nurses are not well informed in terms of their language, they may not understand what the doctor is saying and therefore end up doing what is not accepted. This miscalculation translates to suffering of the patient because the nurse does not follow the given instructions. Miscommunication has claimed lives of many people because the nurses lack the right knowledge to do what they are required to do. Handoff also has claimed many lives because the nurses do not handover correctly and the preceding and succeeding nurses do not exchange information correctly. Incases, where we have critical situations and handoff is not correctly, many are times the patient dies and such a death can be attributed to miscommunication (Karch 55). Having identified the main areas where miscommunication occurs, it is paramount to evaluate the circumstantial and provide solutions which can remedy the situation if they are followed. It would be better to offer solutions to the problems rather than face the outcome such phenomenon. As we posited earlier, language has been a main barrier to communication in many hospitals in the United States. The nurses who are working in these hospitals are not fluent in English language simply because they are foreigners. Being foreigners, they do not have the command of English and when they are communicating with the patient or the doctor, they tend to have problems. This issue can be solved through creating program where by all the nurses who will be employed in United States hospitals to do an English test-both oral and written to test their ability in language. This will ensure that only the qualified nurses will be allowed to work in the hospitals. This will in turn lower the cases where language barrier is attributed to be the cause (Karch 57). Handoff should also be taken seriously whereby the nurses leaving the duty and those joining should inform one another effectively. This will ensure that the nurse who is taking duty is aware of what to expect from the patient hence avoid cases of negligent which are attributed to the latter. In attempt to solve this, SEBAR should be adopted as it helps to understand the patient in a better way. S-situation,ƒ??The situation is normally what has changed, for instance, when the patient complains of pain (Quine 44). The nurse should give the exact information hence making it possible for the other nurse to know exactly what is happening. B-backgroundƒ??Background normally involves what the nurse knows about the patient that could be useful in treatment of the patient. If a patient is known to have cases of allergy, it should be noted as it is vital in treatment and care. , A-assessment or, Appearanceƒ??it is the basic assessment of the patient generally such as pain mental status among other cases. It should be noted that appearance and assessment should be used interchangeably in SBAR documents. R-recommendationƒ??the nurse should suggest something or a procedure to be carried on the patient in relation to what he or she is feeling. For instance, if a patient is suffering from chest ache, a nurse should recommend to the physician to carry out a chest scan to determine the cause of the pain.it should be note that these recommendations are not directed to the nurse bub the physician who is treating the patient. Upon following this format, it will be easier to understand the condition of each and every patient hence taking care of him or her appropriately. Good rapport should also be encouraged between the patient and the nurse as it will help in the process of treatment and healing. In attempt to establish good rapport between the nurse and the patient, hand held technology should be adopted. It involves the ability to communicate with patients in a free and open way to enhance understanding. Using the handheld technology is the digital approach to effective communication whereby charting helps the nurse to enter crucial data of the patient which will be useful to any nurse who will attend to the patient. This technology is important because the data cannot be lost the nurse has all what he needs to record the data. There is no risk of transportation and therefore the data will continue to remain intact. The handheld charting will continue improving as time and technology advances (Landon 35). The medical community has advanced and they are using the VoIP communication in telemedicine and caring for patients virtually. Through this, the nurses can get new orders and also ask any clarification hence ruling out the miscommunication idea. In conclusion, its evident that miscommunication is a major problem in the field of nursing. However, most of the causes of miscommunication are not centered on the nurse and therefore, the nurses ate not to blame. Though there are some individual factors such as language, the other causes just happen as it can happen to anyone and the best thing is to solve them rather than blaming the nurse. The common cause of miscommunication is language and handoff and if they can be handled effectively the challenge of miscommunication can solved fully. However, the challenge should not be taken lightly since it has claimed lives of many patients and it should be taken as disaster. However, nurses should be blamed for it. Works Cited Duerksen, Jennifer L ƒ??Retention and Success of Culturally Diverse Nursing Students.ƒ? Oklahoma Nurse 1 Sept. 2013: 16. Print. ƒ??Join Academia.edu & Share your research with the world.ƒ? THE PROBLEM OF MISCOMMUNICATION. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. . ƒ??Join Academia.edu & Share your research with the world.ƒ? THE PROBLEM OF MISCOMMUNICATION. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. . Karch, Amy M Lippincotts nursing drug guide 2009. Rev. ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins :, 2008. Print. Landon, Patricia Coffrin. The effect of language barriers in patient provider relationships: strategies for medical interpretation services. Independence, Missouri: Graceland University ;, 2007. Print. Quine, Allisson. Intercultural anxiety and cultural self-efficacy among Saskatchewan nursing students: examination of experiences working with Aboriginal persons with diabetes. Regina, Sask.: s.n.], 2009. Print. . Submitting high quality Essays,Research Papers, Term Papers, is the only way students can score high grades( As). Students ought to hire professional Writing Service providers who can deliver high quality work within the allocated time. Click to ORDER NOW It’s only fair to share

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