A professional nurse is one who puts the needs and importance of patient care above all others. The professional should exert a positive public image considering the public is where services are directed to. A professional appearance is important for making first impressions on patients and other coworkers. The first impression is always of utmost importance and plays a major role in gaining a patient’s respect and trust. Once the nurse has began establishing a relationship with their patient, they must be careful to not pass or show any judgment on a patient’s decisions, beliefs, values, or culture.
Communication does not only mean being able to talk to the person, it also implies effective listening. According to Morrissey et al (2008), simply listening to the patient enables the individual to feel more comfortable with telling the nurse their mental health stories. A nurse can show their full capacity to communicate effectively with the service user by giving their complete attention to the individual through encouragement, like nodding and holding the client’s hand, if appropriate for the individual. It is essential that the nurse displays this sense of presence in their delivery of person-centred care as the client may feel uneasy in continuing with their story if they feel that the nurse has lost interest (Morrissey et al, 2008). Langewitz et al (1998, p.230) describes person-centred communication as “communication that invites and encourages the patient to participate and negotiate in decision-making regarding their own care”.
The traditional approach includes collecting subject matter on “biographical data, present health concerns (or present illness) and the chief complaint, past history, family history, review of system and patient data” (Farrell & Dempsey, 2010, p. 74). The assessment interview builds the foundation of the nurse and patient relationship. Building good rapport with the patient will alleviate any stress, anxiety or discomfort the patient may be feeling. The patient will be asked personal questions and at times may not understand or may not want to divulge information about their personal life/situation. As a nurse being open and honest, explaining why this type of information is necessary and asking open-ended questions will help prompt the patient to disclose the facts required, expedite the process and be fundamental in performing a successful assessment (Springhouse, 2004).
It is the duty of the nurses to help protect patients’ right to confidentiality in an organization. Patient’s confidentiality may be violated when nurses or student nurses openly discuss patient information in the cafeteria, hallways and other public places. It is the duty of the nurse or whoever comes in contact with patient information to prevent unnecessary disclosure of patient data and also assess information that is needed to perform their duty. There are certain times when patient confidentiality should be applied. Patient Confidentiality should apply when a nurse or others need to gain access to patient information, especially when the patient information may include basic identifiers for patients past, present or future physical and mental health conditions.
Nurses have a great opportunity to shape the future of the nursing practice through therapeutic communication Armold&Boggs, (2011). While nursing is fundamentally about communicating care and care is at the heart of the nurse client relationship, many problems still remain in the clinical area due to a lack of effective communication. This is supported by Crawford,( 1998).Communication is a key skill of modern nursing practice. Therapeutic Communication is one of the most valuable tools that nurses have to build good interpersonal relationship or trust. I felt the need to develop therapeutic relationship with the patients so that they could feel they could put their trust in me ,also that I was there to listen and talk to them not just care for them.Cutcliff and Mckenna (2005) states that you can gain comfort from drawing on your interpersonal skills, having strength and endurance, feeling self confident , having sufficient competence,beingpeace and ease with oneself and also having a sense of being valued and useful.
They can ensure smooth handoffs as the patient transitions through the continuum. They often prevent medication errors, reduce infection rates and facilitate patient transitions from hospital to home. (Howell, 2013) Nurses at every level take a leadership role through knowledge and caring. Demonstrating understanding of the person, health and environment helps to drive nursing practice and patient care. (AONE, 2010) Leadership is not just managing but facilitating.
If it wasn’t for patients nursing would not come to exist. Nurses have to keep in mind that patients can perceive the way they are being treated. Patients need to be treated with respect, dignity, and caring love from the heart. Nurses also need to be
Effective communication is an important skill that the professional nurse needs to develop in order to interact effectively with patient and bring about a better resolution in patient’s health condition. Johnson (2010) emphasizes the importance of effective communication by nurse with patient and staff. He says, “ The communication process enhances the broadcasting of information needed to ensure patient safety and promote quality patient care”. When nurse clearly communicates the details of a patient’s condition or progress verbally or writing to other members of the healthcare team handling the case as well as nurses that deal with the patient on other shifts, the likelihood of mistakes that put a patient in jeopardy greatly decreased, so patient are safe. The consequences to the patient if nurses do not clearly communicate all important patient information may be greater pain, a worsening of the patient condition, permanent injury or even death.
The techniques to establish a warm and mutual nurse-client relationship are vital to understand and needless to say important in practice in order to come up with healthy and quality outcome for the patient as well as the nurse. Caring moment. “A caring occasion is the moment when the nurse and another person come together in such a way that an occasion for human caring is created. Both persons, with their unique phenomenal fields, have the possibility to come together in a human-to-human transaction” (Watson, 1988). The caring moment can be influenced by the actions and choices made by both the one being cared for and the one caring.
In the second case study regarding the malpractice and negligence of a nurse, the primary obligation according to the ANA code of ethics is to the patient. Provisions II and IV of the ANA code of ethics states that the nurse is responsible to provide optimum patient care and the primary commitments are to the patient. “Business priorities may be pressing in the organization, and powerful enough to cause conflict of interests.” (Lachman, 2009). Therefore, it is important for the RN to maintain integrity as a professional and act in