The Power of Effective Communication in Nursing

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What if effective communication in nursing was considered just as vital as any medical intervention? The truth is my friend, that effective communication is just as crucial as any other nursing skill. As a nurse, you have the power to make a profound difference in your patients’ health simply by honing your communication skills. Imagine a scenario where your patient is frustrated and becoming non compliant with the things they need to do for their health, or they’ve received some difficult to process news about the state of their health and just need a listening ear and some empathetic support. Your communication skills as a nurse could mean a world of difference for either of these patient’s, if intentional communication skills are implemented.

Effective communication is the cornerstone of good nursing care. You can administer medications and perform procedures all day long, but without clear and compassionate communication, your efforts may be less effective. Through active listening, empathy, nonverbal communication, and cultural sensitivity, you can build trust, educate patients, and empower them to actively participate in their care. In my own practice as a nurse working on a cardiac unit, I’ve seen firsthand how effective communication can lead to better patient outcomes, improved adherence to treatment plans, and increased patient satisfaction.

Stick with me, and we’ll dive deeper into the power of effective communication in nursing, exploring its impact on patient safety, adherence, quality of care, and your overall success as a healthcare professional.

Impact of Effective Communication in Nursing on Patient Outcomes:

Now, let’s get into some of the ways the good communication can have significant impacts on patient outcomes, and how nurses can implement these strategies.

Reduced Medical Errors

If you’ve been a nurse, or even have worked in healthcare for any amount of time, you understand how crucial good communication skills are in preventing errors or misunderstandings. A study outlined from Wilson Law, shows that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. A significant number of those can be attributed to poor communication. Such as poor gathering of patient information related to illness to share with a provider, or inadequate communication about discharge instruction on how a patient is to care for themselves once home.

I’ve had far too many instances where, if I hadn’t taken the time to listen to my patient and their concerns they would have gone home confused on how to care for them selves and with the wrong medication plan in their mind. So, after some patience and focus on good communication with the patient and their family, all concerns were settled, care plans were corrected and made clear, and the patient went home feeling more confident in their ability to take care of themselves.

Improved Adherence to Treatment Plans

Studies have shown that through respectful communication between patients and nurses, uncertainty can be reduced and there will be a greater chance of engagement in decision making. Patients may also be more likely to adhere to medication and treatment plans and report higher over all satisfaction in the care they’ve received. According to a study published on Biomed Central.

When a patient feels like you are talking with them and not just talking at them, they are more apt to listen and ask questions about things they don’t understand or feel uncertain about. This can be achieved through using therapeutic communication techniques such as motivational interviewing or teach-back, just to name a couple of methods that could be used.

The goal of education on new treatment plans should be for the patient to understand and feel confident that they will be able to execute and adhere to what they need to do. Not feel overwhelmed and too intimidated to ask for clarification.

Enhanced Patient Education

With good communication comes a two sided conversation with patients, not just a healthcare provider that is giving a brief lecture to the patient. “..effective communication is a two-way dialogue between patients and care providers. In that dialogue, both parties speak and are listened to without interrupting; they ask questions for clarity, express their opinions, exchange information, and grasp entirely and understand what the others mean.” From a published study on BMC Nursing

You have to bear in mind, your patient is likely going through a tough time with whatever their diagnosis, whether its something they’ve been dealing with for a long time or it’s brand new to them. According to an NIH published study, poor communication has been determined to be a primary cause for filing a law suit in >80% of cases. Meaning someone was lost or neglected in communication, and a poor outcome resulted of it. Which leads me to the conclusion that 80% or more of law suits brought about by a poor outcome of some nature can be prevented through good communication.

Benefits for Nurses:

Patients aren’t the only party who will benefit from effective communication in nursing practices on the nurses part. You, the nurse, will also reap benefits from learning how and why to utilize effective communication practices in your practice. Techniques such as motivational interviewing, teach back, open ended questions, and summarizing will enhance the patient experience as well as your own. Nurses experience higher levels of job satisfaction, reductions in stress and burnout, and improvements in teamwork and collaboration among their peers and with patients.

We all want to feel more satisfied, less stressed, and part of a strong team. Shall we explore how communication can help us achieve those goals?

Increased Job Satisfaction

There are also those moments when you’ve successfully tapped into your effective communication skills in nursing, and can tell that you’ve reached a patient where they’re at have connected. Connecting with a patient and seeing that spark of motivation to take care of themselves because they understand the education they’ve been given is really what it’s all about. Is that not part of what drove you to become a nurse in the first place? Your drive to help people and see them become well because of a difference that you made in their life?

Reduced Stress and Burnout

Aside from the stressed caused by things out of our control, such as medical predicaments with patients, certain stressors and instigators of burnout can be mitigated with good effective communication between nurses and other healthcare workers. Being able to communicate stressors on the job, either with management through clear and concise language, or even those around you that can help you through a particularly stressful shift is an incredibly important skill to have as a nurse.

Improved Teamwork and Collaboration

Just like in any type of relationship or team setting, effective communication in nursing is key. In healthcare, the foundation of the team taking care of patients is key to a good relationship among the team members as well as good patient outcomes over all. We’ve all had those jobs where the team you are working with just does not know how to communicate with one another effectively.

Other times, you just find that groove with your teammates and communication flows well and effectively. Those are the days where you feel a strong sense of camaraderie and accomplishment. Honing in on the components of what makes up those moments of effective communication in nursing is key. This level of good teamwork achieved through good communication can be achieved through regular team meetings, clear documentation, and open communication channels. Those are the days where you feel a strong sense of camaraderie and accomplishment.

Conclusion

Communication is an essential skill to have in every aspect of life, not just for interpersonal relationships or marriages. Effective communication skills can mean the difference between a patient having a good or terrible experience in and out of the hospital. It can also be the thing that makes you fall back in love with your career choice of becoming a nurse.

In conclusion, clinical skills such as performing focused assessments or jumping into action to perform life-saving measures at a moment’s notice are incredibly vital skills every bedside nurse should have in their arsenal. Equally as important are effective communication skills, for those moments that are less stressful and pressured. With effective communication in nursing, you can help your patients feel more comfortable while in your care and more empowered to take care of themselves after they have left your care. Just as importantly, your own job satisfaction can go up and stress levels go down, as a direct result of effective communication skills being practiced.

How will you prioritize communication in your nursing practice?