Limitations of communications

Limitations of communications

Abstract

It is the responsibility of the nurse to provide essential healthcare to the patients, and they should also strengthen the healthcare systems. They bring healthcare services nearer to the people of the community, and as a result, they help people since they need the services. There should be effective communication between the people and the healthcare practitioners for successful services between the two parties. Nurses need to have excellent communication skills when dealing with patients since they deal with people of different educational levels, cultural backgrounds as well as social backgrounds and so they need to communicate with a caring, professional and competent manner when dealing with the patients and their families. Since what the nurses tell the patients, it dramatically affects their outcomes, and they can easily influence their education, health as well as adheres. Excellent communication is essential in every organization for effective functioning. As a result of this, a nurse needs to try and make sure they have excellent communication skills since poor communication skills can cause significant harm to the patient and their family since it may lead to confusion.

Limitations of communications

Effective communication means that the nurse and the patient have conversed and clearly understood each other.  According to research, it is clear that nurses do not communicate well with the patients and their family members due to barriers. These barriers include language barriers, and this happens when the nurse and the patients speak in different languages. The patients may be able to understand the local language, and the nurse is not able to communicate that language; this results to the misunderstanding between the patient and the nurse and this may result to the patient misunderstanding the instruction, and they may end up taking the medications in the wrong way.

Secondly, there are cultural differences; this comes in when they differ in the ways both views of death and life. A nurse needs to be cautious when dealing with individuals of different cultural backgrounds. Patient changes are meaning what one patient can accept; another patient may not take due to their cultural history. It is difficult for the nurse to understand the cultural beliefs of every community. The nurse needs to know if the patient prefers to be called by their first name or their surname.

Some cultures may accept eye contact, and others may not take it; others touch and on the issues of personal space, and this depends on the age, race, social status, and gender. Some communities don’t allow physical contact, including a handshake, placing hands on the shoulders of the opposite sex as well as hugs. In some cities, one may say yes but means the contrary, when one smiles don’t mean she is happy or agreement. People have different judgments after the communication; if a person has an experience of the same interface, the disclosure may be interfered with since either of them may get a different message from the conversation. Nurses need to understand the cultural background of the patient when both are conversing. The nurse should not relate the discussion with past patients with the current conversion.

Internal noise and mental distress, fear together with anxiety affect the understanding ability of a person may it be the nurse or the patient. If any of them is stressed or angrily, they may have difficulties in hearing as well as understanding. If a patient has a mental disorder, there may be communication difficulties. The nurse needs to reduce anxiety, anger, and distress before they communicate, and this will help to improve communication. Conflict can also cause a barrier during the conversation. If the nurse and the patient share a common background where they differed, then there a communication issue between the nurse and the patient. The hospital setting may cause communication problems, when the nurse is overloaded with work, the nurse may not have enough time to discuss the patient concern effectively. If the nurse has a specific load, they are expected to cater for at the end of the day, and they may not have enough time to communicate with the patient. If the nurse is tired, had a challenging and hard day; this may also hinder excellent communication with the patient.

Conclusion

There is a need for improvement of communication in healthcare sections since the nature of work leads to an adverse effect on the patient if there is miscommunication. Nurses need to be trained in excellent communication skills to improve their skills when dealing with patients and their families. A nurse who is trained usually has confidence when communicating with the patients. Communication barriers may make nurses choose to work in their countries so that they can improve their knowledge as well as skills when dealing with the patients. The nurses who work in different communities need to learn about the cultural backgrounds of the city for communication purposes. Countries like China people are not allowed to talk about death since it is taboo.