Why Effective Communication is Important for Nursing

This essay is set to explore the importance of developing effective communication skills in nursing. It will give a short overview on what communication is and what it involves. Then it will explain the importance of effective communication in nursing. Furthermore, the essay will briefly present some challenges surrounding communication in nursing and suggestions on how they can be addressed before it concludes by summarising the needs for nursing students to develop effective communication skills.

No original research was carried out specifically for this short essay. This is a literature review on a series of research papers and books that cover this particular subject and a …show more content…

Complaints in relations to bad communication are still raised by patients in all areas at all time. Several other researches have pointed out that the engagement between nurses and patients is often short and task –focused, which sometimes gives patients an impression of disrespectful to their dignity (Shattel 2004, Boscart, 2009).

Addressing this issue, some researchers argue that many cases of bad communication is often the consequence of misunderstanding and the majority of nurses at the centre of the complaints don't always bear any malicious intentions towards their complainants. When confronted, many nurses are often shocked by how their words being interpreted in a way that they are not intended for (Boscart, 2009).

More recent studies have been supportive towards Boscart's view. For example, Finke, Light and Kitko (2008) argue that that patients’ perception of bad communication skills was the result of health professionals’ lack of the knowledge of alternative communication and lack of training was evident in most cases reviewed by the researchers. They further suggest that more training in this area should be carried out by health organisations in order to raise the awareness in nurses in choosing alternative communication skills.

What do we have to do for the future?

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