Communication Is The Delivery Of Message From One Person To Another

Communication is the delivery of message from one person to another. It is one of the fundamental skills that should be possessed by all the nurses. For a nurse to serve the Communication is the delivery of message from one person to another. It is one of the fundamental skills that should be possessed by all the nurses. For a nurse to serve the patient, the nurse should be an effective communicator. Effective communication can enable a nurse to establish a good rapport with the patient, understapatient, the nurse should be an effective communicator. Effective communication can enable a nurse to establish a good rapport with the patient, understand the patient’s needs, and come up with appropriate decisions to improve the health of the patient. During this semester, we learnt a lot of skills on nursing communication. The purpose of this paper is therefore to present a critical reflection of the nursing communication skills acquired during this semester. 

The first lesson I learnt about communication is that a nurse should be a critical listener. Critical listening is a skill that can play a significant role in promoting a good relationship between the nurse and a patient. I was so pleased because the instructor explained to us to be a critical listener, a nurse should give the patient enough time to talk, ask questions, and give his opinion. A critical listener does not only lend his ears, but allows another person to express himself without any unnecessary rude interruptions. When this is done, a patient can feel motivated and encouraged to talk without any fear because he knows that someone is listening to them (Craig, 2013). All nurses should critically listen to the client because all the patients want someone who listens and cares for them especially when they have a health issue to be addressed. When I join the nursing profession, I will do my best to apply this skill in my day-to-day practice.   

I also learnt that an effective e nursing communication should encompass the element of respect. Respect, I was taught, should be done showing regard to the views and opinions of the patient. Nurses are professionals who serve wide range clients drawn from a diverse society. Each and every one of the patients has uniqueness that should be accommodated when communicating with them (Braithwaite & Schrodt, 2014). The nurse should be polite and humble when communicating with these patients because it can help him to appeal to all of them regardless of their differences. Therefore, to be a good communicator, the nurse should always strive to respect each and every patient and treat them with the dignity that they deserve (Bylund, Peterson & Cameron, 2012). Respect can create a cordial relationship between the nurse and patient because it can instill confidence in the patient. Hence, for me to be success in my nursing practice, I will have to apply this skill because it will play a significant role in improving the quality of my services.

During the semester, we learnt about multi-cultural communication. The lecturer introduced the element of multi-cultural communication after telling us that Australia is a plural nation made up of diverse populations. Since nurses are public servants who serve people from all walks of life, they should be prepared to serve everyone one including the immigrants, non-indigenous, and indigenous communities like the Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islander people. Each of these people has certain cultural values and beliefs which differ from one another (Dawson, Bernstein, Wilkins & Bekki, 2015).  The views not only influence their lifestyle, but their communication approaches as well. Therefore, to be a successful professional, a nurse needs to be a culturally-diverse person who is conscious of the cultural views of the people, accepts, tolerates, and appreciates them no matter how different they might be. In my practice, I will have to be a culturally-intelligent practitioner who respects and accommodates the cultural views of everyone and treat them without any bias, discrimination, stigmatization, or prejudice (Arnold & Boggs, 2015).

Last, but not least, the other important communication skill I learnt during the semester is the effective combination of the use of verbal and non-verbal communication techniques in nursing. Here, I learnt that a nurse should be effective in using verbal communication skills such as language choice, articulation, and audibility. For a nurse to effectively communicate with the patient, the nurse should use a simple and precise language that is easy to understand. At the same time, the nurse should use an appropriate rate of articulation and be loud enough to be heard by the patient. In order to improve the quality of communication, a nurse should feel free to blend the verbal with non-verbal techniques such as gesture, body movement, and facial and hand expressions (Knapp, Vangelisti & Caughlin, 2014). However, the nurse should be keen when using these non-verbal cues because any misuse might hinder the communication process.

Having learnt all these skills, I am looking forward to apply them in my nursing practice. In my future plan, I will try to apply these skills to enable me communicate well with my patients. I now know that communication is an important asset that I should explore in my nursing practice. However, since I am still continuing with my studies, I will not forget about these skills, but keep on applying them whenever I get an opportunity to do so.  I will continue horning my communication skills because I know it will make me to apply the lessons learnt, identify my strong and weak areas in which I should make the necessary adjustments (Momani & Berry, 2017). One of the strategies I will use to horn my communication skills is to collaborate with my colleagues and instructors. I will establish a good rapport with my instructors and consult them whenever necessary. At the same time, I will spare time to visit healthcare facilities to actualize these skills and put them into practice.

In conclusion, communication is an important resource that should be appropriately exploited by the practitioners. The course was useful because it imparted important communication skills to me.  It has enabled me to learn that for a nurse to deliver a therapeutic care to the patients, the nurse should not fail to effectively apply fundamental communication skills like critical listening; respect; flexibility; acceptance; effective language usage; empathy; and use of non-verbal cues such as body movement, hand expression, facial expression, and gesture. 

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