Dangers Of Ineffective Communication In Healthcare

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Dangers of Ineffective Communication in Healthcare

Nurses rely on their education, training skills and experience to succeed in their helping profession. At the same time, the ability to read, write and understand is crucial in delivering proper patient care. Ineffective communication skills can seriously harm or kill a patient, as shown through improper documentation, miscommunication and overwhelming job demands.

Nurses deal with patients more than any other healthcare professional, as well; much of their time is spent on paperwork pertaining to the patient’s health. Writing must be clear, accurate and legible, together with correct spelling and punctuation. “Miss Delling gots walked to bathroom after she eat at 0900!” does not clearly state that Miss Debling ate a full breakfast at 09:00 and needed assistance too the bathroom afterwards. Improper documentation can result from illegible notes and labelling, as seen in doctors writing of sloppy prescriptions and medication management. For example, many drugs both look and sound the same but all have side effects that could harm a patient if given the wrong drug, dose or if administered the wrong way. Measurements, dates and times are specifically important and if not written legibly, can have dire consequences.

Miscommunication of a procedure, intervention or care-plan directly affects a patient’s level of care. In nursing, language barriers create an easy path for information to get lost in translation. A patient may be confused, embarrassed or scared to ask questions, and although someone may be listening to you, it doesn’t necessarily mean they understand the concept you’re trying to get across. It is essential for nurses to make sure a patient truly understands what is being said by using simple, common words and avoiding medical terminology. First for example, a child having a limited

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