Exploring person-centred care from a nursing perspective essay sample

Communications skills are often classified as verbal and nonverbal. However, Argyle (1990) suggests that in an interaction, words make up only 7 per cent of a message: tone, tempo and syntax make up 38 per cent; and body language makes up 35 per cent. This indicates that how we send the message has great importance in addition to the spoken words. The importance of communication in healthcare is highlighted in the Department of Health’s Essence of Care 2010 document. For this assignment the poor and positive communication skills demonstrated by staff towards a vulnerable patient, and inter-professionally will be identified and analysis. The paralinguistic elements of communication such as the volume, tone and pitch of the voice, in addition to the speed at which the speaker speaks are all important to convey a message, as well as any attached emotions or attitudes (McCabe and Timmins, 2006).

In this scenario the loud volume, high tone and pitch of the staff nurse’s voice is inappropriate when she communicates with the patient. The staff nurse comes across as very confrontational, and instead needed to employ a much quieter, softer and lower tone to create a more positive nurse-patient interaction. The Department of Health’s Essence of Care (2010) Benchmarks for communication states “ All staff must demonstrate effective interpersonal skills”. Bach and Grant (2011) suggest effective interpersonal skills include active listening, good attending and empathy, which in turn aid therapeutic communication. McCabe and Timmins (2006) proposed therapeutic communication with patients begins with active listening and states that “ active listening requires not only the act of hearing but also an active interpretation of what is heard”. Initially in this interaction the staff nurse does not actively listen to the patient and therefore does not acknowledge the importance of the patient’s worries.