Communication Skills in the Human Service Practice
Introduction
Competence in communication is essential in the practice of Human Services, which is described as a study area focused on tackling human beings’ needs via applied Knowledge foundation. It is common knowledge that the degree of communication varies from one individual to another. Furthermore, how the types of communication, which include; verbal, non-verbal, and written communication are explained, contain subjectivity in that the communication purely relies on or is controlled by individual perceptions, emotions or feelings, and even opinions. However, in the field of “Human Service,” it is paramount to illustrate objectivity, which refers to independence from the aspect of subjectivity in the communication facets.
As a “Human Services Professional,” using the instance of nursing, it is essential to illustrate objectivity in all the communication aspects while communicating with clients who are, in this case, patients. According to a journal article by (Solli & Barbosa da Silva, 2018) on objectivity in healthcare, they claim that objectivity anticipates regard for human frangibility, dignity, self-determination, and ethics among patients and the nursing staff in the process of communication. A journal article by (Sibiya, 2018) on “Effective communication in Nursing” stated that communication, which is liberated from subjectivity in the nursing practice has significant results in the form of alleviating erroneous medical issues. Thus, the nurses should communicate with patients in an effective and professional aspect, and this involves not letting their feelings and perceptions stand in the way of a productive conversation. A good example of perception is where the “Human Services Professional” observes that a client is conversing in a very fast manner and without fluency and proper articulation, thus dismissing the client without receiving the communication the client was putting across (Sibiya, 2018). Objectivity in communication in the nursing aspect comes in the form of; bequeathing information or a certain opinion, for example, “I am experiencing stomach aches” or “My presence here is to offer you medication.” And also, seeking information or a certain opinion about the patient, for example, “Are you susceptible to paracetamol?” or “Give me information about your accident.” Nurses, therefore, make an effort to ensure patient communication is curative i.e., therapeutic in that it is objectively enforced to nurture the patient health-wise. The “facets” of communication include both verbal and non- verbal. Verbal communication involves written and non-written communication. Non-Written communication involves words that are spoken and are very important in “human service.” Nurses communicate in mostly verbal terms with the patients and the nurse must communicate objectively without bias to the patient to ensure neutrality (Sibiya, 2018). Written communication comes mostly in the form of prescriptions by the nurses to the patients and in this type of communication, the nurse should also exercise objectivity to ensure that he/ she does not prescribe treatment to the patient which the patient does not feel comfortable with as the patient’s choices and decisions should be respected. On the other hand, nonverbal communication is sent through body language. It is said that over fifty percent of communication in the nursing field is nonverbal and thus these skills should be mastered by nurses to ensure effective communication (Sibiya, 2018). Examples of this type of communication include; posture, facial expressions, speech tones, and proximity. A nurse should thus exercise objectivity when communicating non-verbally to the patients thus preventing individual feelings and opinions from getting in the way of the patient’s healing process. An article by (Bello, 2017), on “Effective Communication in the Nursing Practice” stated that the ‘what, when and where’ of communication by nurses is very crucial to the patient’s health and well-being. He further claims that in the “Human Service” field of healthcare, communicating subjectively may often result in misunderstandings between the two parties (Bello, 2017). Therefore, objective communication which is considered very effective requires the nurses to understand the feelings and concerns of patients in a professional aspect to provide care without any kind of bias. Bello continues to say that despite the circumstance of unavoidable inequality, nurses should ensure effective communication that is subject to objectivity to achieve maximum care. He advises that through communication, nurses should care about the patients but not to an extent that the medical decisions they make are based on the feelings and perceptions they have acquired in the communication process (Bello, 2017). A journal by (Peng et al., 2018) “Do Objective Measures of Communication Predict Clinical Performance?” concluded that there was a positive connection between nurses’ objective communication and clinical performance which stress on communication significance in the field of healthcare. The authors further claim that this kind of communication is of essence in administering the utmost quality and secure patient care. Thus, they stress on the nurse’s role of articulating clearly to patients and make straighthttps://essaygroom.com/verbal-behavior/forward communication to other staff while determining and selecting treatment methods for patients (Peng et al., 2018).
The strategies used to ensure communication is ‘professionally sound’ include; the use of silence. This applies in nonverbal communication where the nurse and patient both exercise silence which gives the latter ample time to broach a new issue. Thus, the patient must be the first to cut out the silence. Another strategy is acceptance. Here, the nurse hails what the patient has spoken and attests that what they have spoken has been heard. This is because patients tend to be more receptive to healthcare when they get the feeling that their healthcare providers are paying attention to what they are saying. The next strategy which is in verbal communication involves nurses giving recognition to the patients in the form of a compliment for instance “I observed that you followed all of your prescriptions as required.” This recognizes a patient’s behavior and can capture attention to the deed and thus encouraging it in the process. The next strategy involves offering oneself to the patient in form of sitting with them, staying for an eating session, or even watching television together with the patient thus boosting their moods and increasing chances of receptiveness in treatment. The next strategy which involves both verbal and nonverbal communication is the act of active listening. This includes illustrating interest while listening to patients speak, admitting that you are indeed listening, and thus guiding the conversation further. Throughout the convo, the nurse nods and uses terms like “I see” to propel the conversation further. Another strategy involves the nurse trying to seek clarification when the patient unknowingly says something equivocal. This helps them acknowledge what the patients say and as a result, also helps patients fully undertake their thoughts. The next strategy is whereby the nurse encourages perception descriptions by the patient. This is essential especially among patients who are experiencing hallucinations. Phrases like “what are you hearing right now” are used to make patients explain what they perceive and not feel judged in the process. Lastly, “Encouraging Comparisons” is the strategy where nurses inspire patients to draw comparisons thus discovering solutions to their issues (“17 Therapeutic Communication Techniques – Rivier Academics”, 2017).
In conclusion, the outcomes of clients (from a nursing perspective) i.e. patients occur in four ways. The first outcome is accuracy in diagnostics. When a patient communicates without any interruption to the nurse, they provide complete information about their health conditions thus complete data that is utilized in conducting clinical decisions. This means that if the patient’s communication was to be interrupted, he/she would feel that what was being said was of less importance and thus patients become reserved in terms of issuing out more information about their condition. The second outcome is adherence which is explained as the degree to which the behavior orchestrated by a patient correlates with concurred recommendations from the nurse. The Third outcome is the satisfaction experienced by the patient. This is increased when nurses take the patient’s problem seriously, communicate information to them distinctly, and issue viable options to the patients. The last outcome is the safety of the patient through effective communication since ineffective communication is said to be the origin of over sixty percent of medical errors (“Impact of Communication in Healthcare | Institute for Healthcare Communication”, 2011).