Healthcare providers must have excellent communication skills with other providers as well as patients. Nurses, for example, will spend their days relaying information to physicians, following provider orders, coordinating with specialists, scheduling tests, and helping patients and their families understand what is going on. Poor communication skills in healthcare can cause confusion, frustration, and in some cases, even patient injury or death.
The Scandinavian Journal of Healthcare published a study in 2011 that explains how communication errors can cause harm or even death for patients in the hospital.
Related: Patient First Language: Breaking Stigmas, Building Bridges
Medical terminology
Medical terminology is one of the first things that new healthcare providers should learn in the workplace. Knowing the correct names for things or understanding exactly what a physician wants for a patient helps avoid mistakes in treatment plans.
Understanding directions such as superior, anterior, and lateral as well as correct anatomical names is essential for nurses, techs, physicians, and other members of the healthcare team. If you ever have a question about a term, make sure you clarify with the ordering physician rather than making an educated guess.
Related: Health Literacy: Bridging the Language Gap
Closed-loop communication
Closed-loop communication is essential for healthcare providers, especially when dealing with an emergency or in high-stress situations. In most cases, closed-loop communication has a few steps:
- The team stops all side conversations and ensures that all communications can be heard.
- The provider or team leader gives an order or instructions.
- The recipient of the message repeats the order or instructions out loud.
- If the recipient does not repeat the order or instructions correctly, the team leader corrects the recipient. Then the process repeats until instructions are repeated correctly.
- In some situations, the recipient of the message should inform the team leader when the instructions have been followed or the task has been completed.
While closed-loop communication can seem repetitive, it is a great way to ensure that each message is received in the way it was intended. Closed-loop communication in a cardiac arrest situation may sound something like this:
Provider: “Give Mr. Smith 1mg of epinephrine IV, now.”
Nurse: “I will give Mr. Smith 1mg of epinephrine IV now.”
Then after completing the task, the nurse should again confirm “I have given 1mg of IV epinephrine.”
Closed loop communication in need of a correction may sound something like this:
Provider: “Give Mr. Smith 20mg of IV lasix if he does not produce any urine over the next 4 hours.”
Nurse: “I will give Mr. Smith 20mg of IV lasix now.”
Provider: “No, please only give Mr. Smith the 20mg of IV lasix if he does not produce any urine over the next 4 hours.
Nurse: “I will monitor the urine output and give 20mg of IV lasix if Mr. Smith does not produce any urine over the next 4 hours.
Provider: “Correct, thank you.”
Active listening
Whether talking to a physician, phlebotomist, or a patient, it is important to show that you are listening and understanding what they are saying. Active listening means using your words and body language to demonstrate understanding.
Harvard Business Review gives some great advice on practicing active listening:
- Make eye contact with the other person
- Stay on topic
- Listen to understand the other person, rather than thinking about how you will respond
- Ask clarifying questions
- Avoid “closed-off” postures or gestures such as folding your arms or putting your hands on your hips
Communication skills in healthcare: Empathy and understanding
Patients typically come to healthcare facilities seeking help for physical ailments. Nurses can easily become bogged down with tasks and start to forget the humanity that is so important for good nursing care. It is important for nurses and other healthcare providers to meet their patient’s emotional needs as well as their physical needs.
With burnout and caregiver fatigue on the rise, it is essential for nurses to find ways to remain empathetic, patient, and understanding of the people in their care.
While it may seem impossible when your task list is a mile long, one of the best ways to show your patients that you care is to carve out enough time to allow your patient to express their concerns to you. Experts at Johns Hopkins Medical Center explain that patients who feel unheard or misunderstood begin to distrust their care team and have a harder time being compliant with their medications and care plans.
Giving and receiving constructive feedback
While nobody likes to hear that they have made a mistake, being able to take feedback is the best way to grow and become a better nurse. Whether someone tells you that there is a better way to dress your patient’s wound or that you could have communicated more effectively with a provider, take that feedback and use it to improve your nursing practice.
It can be difficult, but avoid becoming defensive or making excuses when someone voices a concern or offers you advice. Remain open to suggestions and always assume good intent when someone offers you a suggestion.
Remember, the goal of the healthcare team is to keep patients safe and provide them with excellent healthcare. Being unwilling to change your practice or admit that you have made a mistake not only stunts your growth as a healthcare provider, but it puts patients at risk.
In addition to being able to handle criticism, you need to learn how to give feedback effectively. If you see someone making a dangerous mistake, you must intervene immediately. Stop them from doing something dangerous. Pull them aside to discuss the problem. Remember to be kind, but firm, and be willing to educate the person on how they can improve the next time.
Not everyone will appreciate or respond favorably to being called out for their mistakes. Remember that it is your responsibility to keep your patients safe, not protect your coworkers’ feelings. However, you can make difficult discussions easier by remaining calm and kind, sticking to the facts, and using collaboration to make a plan for improvement.
