2.1 Communication Introduction
Open Resources for Nursing (Open RN)
Learning Objectives
- Assess one’s own communication skills and effectiveness[1]
- Demonstrate cultural humility, professionalism, and respect when communicating[2]
- Use communication styles and methods that demonstrate caring, respect, active listening, authenticity, and trust[3]
- Maintain communication with interprofessional team members and others to facilitate safe transitions and continuity in care delivery[4]
- Confirm the recipient of the communication heard and understands the message[5]
- Use therapeutic communication techniques
- Identify strategies to adapt communication to the client, audience, and situation
- Verify information sources are reliable and current
- Use correct medical terminology and abbreviations
- Describe ways to report client information
- Describe legal and standard documentation guidelines
Strong communication skills are essential to provide safe, quality, client-centered care. Nurses develop therapeutic relationships with clients and family members each day to ensure that health care concerns and needs are addressed. If communication breaks down, information exchange stops and needs go unidentified. Nurses optimize communication channels with clients and families by establishing trust and actively listening to health care concerns. Additionally, the nurse is vital for ensuring that information transfer occurs within the multidisciplinary team. Communication with other health care team members is professional, organized, accurate, complete, and concise. This chapter will review methods for establishing good communication.
Before getting started, view the following video and reflect on the often invisible needs of those around us and the difference we can make by creating caring human connections.
View the video: Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care.[6]
- American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). American Nurses Association. ↵
- American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). American Nurses Association. ↵
- American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). American Nurses Association. ↵
- American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). American Nurses Association. ↵
- American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). American Nurses Association. ↵
- Cleveland Clinic. (2013, February 27). Empathy: The human connection to patient care [Video]. YouTube. All rights reserved. https://youtu.be/cDDWvj_q-o8 ↵