This essay is going to discuss about importance of communication the quality of patient/ client/ service user care. After discussing how communication improves the quality of care, this assignment will address what barriers that may also occur in a healthcare setting and how we can overcome them by using communication. After discussing the barriers, a final summary will be drawn on how communication enhances the quality of care.
Communication is something that is needed in our day, when a patient comes steps into a healthcare setting it is your duty to make sure you are communicating with them to get a better understanding to why they are here. Effective communication is of the utmost importance when delivering healthcare. If there was no communication, this sector would be broken. There would be high numbers of negative patients than positives. You can communicate with a patient by questioning them, writing to the patients. Listening to the patient is always an effective way of communicating as the patient will feel as if they are being heard.
Having good communication skills has a number of qualities Good communication helps patients/clients feel at ease. When patients are in a healthcare setting it could make them feel anxious and uneasy. They could be there for a number of reasons as in getting test results going for scans. Being in this particular setting could make patients speak out of character. Communicating with the patient, giving them reassurance and listening to them will always be a good form of communication.
In a healthcare setting, it is always a positive to make sure that the patient feels as if they’re in control. As a patient, the last thing you want to feel is hopeless, like you cannot control yourself, however talking and engaging with a patient in the correct way will make them still feel as if they are in control. All nurses must use a range of communication skills and technologies to support person-centred care and enhance quality and safety. There are a range of devices and tools that healthcare professionals use to communicate with patients whether that be a mobile phone, a tablet device or a simple whiteboard and pen. These items have been effective within the health sector.
Communication is the transfer of information between a source and the receiver. As communication works in various ways to patients there are regulations that nurses / healthcare professionals need to adhere to. Good communication will make a patient feel like they are valued. Showing a patient that they are still valued no matter what they have/ are enduring will always go a long way.
Barriers which could potentially occur in a healthcare setting is not understanding the patient as they don’t speak the same language. Around one in ten people in the UK don’t speak English as their first language. To overcome this barrier there could be an interpreter in the room when talking to the patient, using a reliable translation service, using repetition and also being respectful of the patient.
Another barrier would be religious beliefs, not wanting doctor to examine you that is the opposite sex. Patients may feel uncomfortable. In a healthcare setting, this barrier would be overcome by making sure that we either have confirmation that the patient has requested doctor of the same sex prior to their appointment or in other cases asking the patience if they have a preference before being examined.
Patients that have poor self-esteem, social anxiety, and other issues that can make it a little harder opening up to people. In a healthcare setting the way they would help to overcome this barrier is by making sure that the patient is being heard, so listening to what the patient is saying, making them feel comfortable and always try to understand their point of view.
A barrier could occur when a patient has trouble accessing a building due to them being in a wheelchair. There are currently around 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK. Two thirds of them are regular users. Helping to overcome barriers such as these would be to make sure that the building has accessible entrance/exits for wheelchair users, and also making sure beforehand that the healthcare setting that they are going to has the correct items to facilitate their stay.
In conclusion, when having effective communication allows good quality care to service users and patients that will aim to individual needs. Healthcare professionals make sure that this is implemented in care settings as it will help with confidence, respect and also help to build rapport with patients. Its good practice when all of these ways of communication are being enforced as they will meet the needs of the service users.
