Effective Communication In Nursing As Seen In The Movie "WIT" Is An Essay That Explores The Importance Of Effective Communication In Nursing.

Ineffective Communication in the Movie

Question:

Discuss about the WIT Film on Effective Communication.

Effective communication is an important aspect for establishing therapeutic relationships. Effective communication enables nurses to provide ethical, safe, quality, and person-centered nursing care (Farrington and Townsend, 2014). Effective communication refers to a verbal or nonverbal methods that relay information in a clear and simple term (Matusitz and Spear, 2014). Communication is essential to nursing as nurses are used as communication hub and relay or interpret information between family members, physicians, caregivers and the patients  (Jolles, Clark and Braam, 2012). The following essay discusses effective and ineffective communication when providing nursing care as watched from a WIT Movie 2001 directed by Mike Nichols. The essay will also contain my reflection on knowledge or skills gaps and a plan for improving communication effectiveness when providing nursing care.

The WIT Movie was shot in a hospital setting where the main character Vivian Bearing is diagnosed with Stage (IV) Ovaries Cancer. The patient is convinced by Harvey Kelekian to agree and undertake an experimental eight months treatment that was to help contribute knowledge towards cancer treatment. Harvey Kelekian is a prominent physician and leads a team of researchers who include a former Vivian’s student Jason Posner and a primary nurse Susie Monahan (WIT, 2001). The physicians are involved in several ineffective communications that are insensitive and amuses the patient causing more pain that the real illness. The phrase “how are you feeling today?” is frequently as a form of greetings or inquiring her condition. Vivian narrates how she was asked how she was feeling today after a four hours operation. She remembers how she used to be asked the same question while growing up and contrasts with the current situation. Vivian remarks that when she dies she will not be able to hear the question. For instance, Doctor Posner together with other researchers asks Vivian what she was feeling today and she replies she was fine. Doctor Posner then leads the physicians on experimental briefing. Vivian feels that after teaching she was used to a specimen to learn and contribute to existing knowledge. In another account, Jason Posner in an isolation room after taking an assessment asks Vivian how she was feeling on that day. Vivian replied that she was fine and was just taking sometime from the chills. Vivian thereafter expresses her feelings and attitudes towards her condition in isolation room when the Doctor leaves the room. Jason Posner also asks Vivian how she was feeling that day after she had several treatments and now she was back to her room. Vivian has expressed distress about the series of treatments that she had undergone before doctor Posner assessment. The phrase “how you are feeling today?” has an automatic spontaneous response “fine” (Ha and Longnecker, 2010). The other party is obliged to answer in a certain way not to disappoint. This applies to patients too as they are obliged to give a positive response despite their ill condition not to disappoint (Bramhall, 2014). The phrase said to patients also becomes more of a greeting rather than an inquiry. This leads to the patients responding with a short answer or in an expected manner that does not reveal the patient’s emotions, attitudes, or feelings. The physicians are thereby not able to get an inquiry because the phrase does not encourage patients to give a detailed feedback.

Effective Communication in the Movie

On the other side, the movie contains effective communication scenery. Nurse Susie shows good therapeutic relationship and communicates effectively with Vivian. Susie answers Vivian call early in the morning where they engage in a conversation. Susie starts the conversation with Vivian by inquiring if there is a problem since she was awake at 4am. Susie combines tone and body language to communicate with Vivian. The nurse tries to find out why the patient doesn’t sleep. Vivian explains that she is not able to sleep as she kept on thinking. The nurse changes her body posture and looks directly to the patient. Vivian expresses her doubts and that she was scared. Vivian becomes emotional and Susie responds by a body contact and showing care to the patient. The nurse also provides Vivian with popsicles and sits alongside her. The nurse and Vivian engaged in an honest discussion was targeted to providing the patient with knowledge (Ha and Longnecker, 2010). A nurse offering a touch is a powerful means of communicating with a patient. Touching a patient’s hands conveys that the nurse is concerned and shows empathy (Shannon, 2012). Maintaining eye contact with patient expresses confidence that offer encouragement to their condition (Garrett, 2016). The body posture is also an important part of effective communication. It helps a nurse communicate better by showing relation that reduces anxiety to patients. Therefore, Susie was effective in communicating with Vivian by finding a balance between empathy and honest discussion.

The WIT Movie has several scenes that are educative to health professionals or students learning to practice the profession. I have learnt about effective therapeutic and professional communication that has enabled me to indentify the knowledge and skills gaps that can impact my capacity for effective communication when practicing nursing. First, I have learnt that nonverbal language is an important tool to effective communication. Nurses should combine verbal and nonverbal communication to enhance the effectiveness of communication in health centers. Nonverbal communication to be used includes eye contact, body posture, and touch. Nonverbal communication enhances the delivery of the information by establishing confidence, trust, and empathy. Secondly, I have learnt that some phrases are inappropriate when establishing a therapeutic relationship. For instance, using the phrase “how are you feeling today?” frequently is mechanical and patients are obliged to answer “fine” accompanied by a short or no comment. The phrase does not allow patients to express themselves as expected in an assessment session. The phrase is also taken as greetings and therefore cannot be used to inquire information from a patient. Thirdly, I have learnt that effective professional and therapeutic communication require a humanistic approach. A humanistic approach enables nurses to take a holistic approach of care to a patient that foster emotional and mental health in addition to the physical illness. This can be enhanced by finding a balance between professional practice and research to avoid undermining the patient’s interests. I have also learnt on the need for using simple vocabularies and providing information for effective communication. Use of medical jargons is a barrier to effective communication as patient is not able to understanding their conditions. Nurses should therefore communicate in simplest language that patients can understand and make decisions about their health. Providing patient with information empowers the patient to make decisions. Therefore, effective therapeutic and professional communication is essential for providing quality and safe nursing care.

Lessons Learnt from the Movie

From the film, I noticed a knowledge gap and skills in establishing effective professional communication and therapeutic relationships. I noticed that I lack alternative phrases that I can use to inquire information from a patient. The “how are you feeling today?” phrase is common but inappropriate in establishing therapeutic relationship with patients. The phrase has a spontaneous answer and cannot be used for professional inquiry. Secondly, I have noticed that I did not pay attention to my nonverbal communication. I have a weakness when it comes to aligning my verbal communication with body language. The body language is important in delivering effective communication to a patient and therefore an important that I should addressed before I start practicing nursing.

The plan to improve my knowledge and skills gap will involve learning new things that are essential for effective communication. First, I will research on alternative phrases that can be used to inquire information from a patient. This will involve reviewing past research work on effective communication for inquiring patient information. This will increase my opening conversation phrases that are appropriate and effective for therapeutic and professional communication. The plan to improve my body language will involve learning by practice. I will learn how to align my verbal communication with facial expressions, touch, eye contact, and body posture. This will increase the effectiveness of my communication when establishing therapeutic relationship as a health care professional.

In conclusion, patients’ health care delivery is impacted by the effectiveness of the health care provider communication skills. Therapeutic and professional communication is important to delivering a safe and quality health care. Health care professionals should be careful when choosing words as opening statement or when inquiring information from patients. They should use nonverbal communication to compliment their verbal communication. Health professionals should also take a humanistic approach when providing health care to hospitalized patients. This will enable physicians to balance between research and professional practice interests when handling an experimental condition. Therefore, it requires effective communication in establishing appropriate therapeutic relationships for safe and quality health care.

References

Bramhall, E. (2014) ‘Effective communication skills in nursing practice’, Nursing Standard, 29(14), pp. 53–59. doi: 10.7748/ns.29.14.53.e9355.

Farrington, N. and Townsend, K. (2014) ‘Enhancing nurse-patient communication: a critical reflection’, British Journal of Nursing, 23(14), pp. 771–775. doi: 10.12968/bjon.2014.23.14.771.

Garrett, J. H. (2016) ‘Effective Perioperative Communication to Enhance Patient Care’, AORN Journal, 104(2), pp. 111–120. doi: 10.1016/j.aorn.2016.06.001.

Ha, J. F. and Longnecker, N. (2010) ‘Doctor-patient communication: a review.’, The Ochsner Journal, 10(1), pp. 38–43. doi: 10.1043/toj-09-0040.1.

Jolles, E. P., Clark, A. M. and Braam, B. (2012) ‘Getting the message across: Opportunities and obstacles in effective communication in hypertension care’, Journal of Hypertension, pp. 1500–1510. doi: 10.1097/HJH.0b013e32835476e1.

Matusitz, J. and Spear, J. (2014) ‘Effective doctor-patient communication: An updated examination’, Social Work in Public Health, 29(3), pp. 252–266. doi: 10.1080/19371918.2013.776416