Communication in a Diverse World Essays

Communication in a Diverse World Essays Communication in a Diverse World Essay Communication in a Diverse World Essay Log One The aim of day one was to raise awareness of the elements of communication in a diverse world. This was the introduction to Communication in a Diverse World with one of the outcomes being appreciating the value of promoting a safe and positive communication environment as well as indentifying own personal development issues in the context of communication and the diversity when working with not only the service users but with families, parents and carers. Communication is a way of using words to express our thoughts and feelings to another individual (Ellis, Gates and Kenworthy, 2003). Already I felt that I had to develop this outcome quickly not just for the nursing profession but for my own personal area of life. By the end of the session I became extremely aware of the effectiveness of good communication skills within the nursing profession, I recognise that this was the key fundamental skill in nursing. We watched a DVD in the first session which outlined to me what patients really wanted from nurses. I learned that effortless things such as the right facial expressions, listening attentively, or the way we approach and converse to service users will make big differences. This will not only make the duty of care easier but will also create a trusting relationship between the service users and nurse (The Nursing Times (2007). An exercise was conducted in session which involved introducing each other, I felt nervous and limited in what to say simply because of the fear of being judged. I then learned that this may be how patients might feel if they have not been to a hospital before or on having to meet a healthcare professional for the first time. I in addition became knowledgeable of the importance of maintaining professional boundaries with service users (Nursing and Midwifery Code, 2008). Being aware of the difference between social and therapeutic relationship as this will improve on the way we worked and relate to service users. This could be achieved by me being clear of my expectations and check their understanding as this will avoid conflict or misunderstandings also among my colleagues. Furthermore became aware of the way I communicate without affecting the service user or colleagues’ feelings. In conclusion to day one, my awareness to everything was increasingly improved, I am not suggesting that my way of dealing with communication before was in any way bad but I will say that, I had a mild approach to things, I now feel competent enough to approach people the right way with the right mind-set. Moreover assumption is out of my mentality, I am frequently reflecting back on my sessions and immediately I become tuned with the right approach to things. Log Two Day two aim was to define and explore essential human attributes required for working in partnership with individuals, one of the learning outcomes was to define and explore the therapeutic use of self, incorporating the qualities of kindness, sensitivity and compassion. This part of the module has increased my awareness of just how vital these three components are. They are needed in order to be a well developed member of the nursing profession. I learned that these components can be shown and defined in many different ways. I felt that every person involving themselves in the nursing profession must possess some form of empathy not just for the service users but for everyone around them. In my opinion therapeutic self means, knowing the professional boundaries between self and the service user, this includes me as the nurse to be clear of my own expectations as well as those of the service user and to make certain their understanding is checked carefully. Another way is being conscious of self disclosure, knowing what information is safe and relevant to reveal about myself. I learned that being congruent is another essence in nursing as we watch a DVD that touched the subject of honesty, this made me aware that service users values honesty amongst nurses. Following the session I also became alert of the unconditional positive regard that we nurses require in order to provide the best care possible, also being alert of our own beliefs and values and making sure that they do not intervene with the relationship development. Sensitivity in addition to empathy needs to help us endorse emotional comfort (Chambers and Ryder, 2009). The key aspects of care need to be applied to every aspect of nursing, it adds value to the physiological care and gives a sense of being valued to the service user. Kindness can be described as ‘perceived intent to support felt by the care recipient’ (Llewellyn and Hayes, 2008: 109). Clearly this is important in nursing after all, we want the service user to understand and feel aware of our duty and desire to care for and support them. Sensitivity is broadly speaking about being tuned in to the needs of others, being sensitive to their emotional needs, feelings and reactions. We were also given a leaflet on the Johari window and unknown to me, friends said I have grown in wisdom, informing me that I now think before I speak. I also learned that compassion is a basic kindness with a deep awareness and empathy for the suffering of living things. Also carried in compassion is the desire to change or improve the circumstances or situation of the subject that is perceived to be suffering and this described by (Chambers and Ryder, 2009: 2) ‘Compassion is the essence of caring and therefore the essence of nursing’. In conclusion I am now aware of how important it is to demonstrate kindness, sensitivity and compassion to other people, after being a service user myself (I was in hospital earlier this year), I felt well looked after because they constantly demonstrated these components. I will take this experience with me in practice as I now know that if treated with dignity and respect a greater standard of care is received. Log Three One of the learning outcomes of day three was to explain the importance of respecting diversity, individual choice and preferences. In my opinion diversity are the things that make us all individuals, that difficult mix that make us who we are and indentifies us as an individual. For day three we watched a DVD on disability and I felt sad and embarrassed my own past experiences as a child of how I reacted when I saw a disabled individual, the video made aware how the society has now changed since the fifties, I learned they are just as normal as everyone else and should not be judged, everyone deserves equal treatment and respect. Transcultural nursing is a critical aspect of healthcare today. The ever growing multicultural population in countries possess a major challenge to nurses given that individualise and holistic care to service users. This requires nurse to familiarise and welcome cultural differences in healthcare values, beliefs and customs. Nurses must obtain the needed knowledge and skills in cultural competency. Ethnically competent nursing care helps guarantee service users satisfaction and positive outcome (Journal of Cultural Diversity, 2008). I learned about the six strands of diversity and was happy to learn that various laws are now in place to make sure that one may not be discriminated against on these grounds such as the Employment Equality Age Regulation (2003) protects age legislation, The Disability Discrimination Act (1995), Sex Discrimination Act (1975), Race Relations Act (1976) amended (2000), Equal Pay Act (1970), The Equality Act (2006) and many more. I also learned nurses are also protected from being discriminated against because looking after older or disabled people, available on ( qualities. gov. uk). I learned that when dealing with disabled individuals, patience, kindness, sensitivity and compassion are the keys to reach a successful outcome despite of any disability that they may have. I became more aware that if the six strands of diversity are not respected, it can lead to social exclusion and this is how some people become depressed or homeless, as they are shunned and left unsupported. People wit h mental health issues and older people are more at risk of this because of their vulnerability. Whilst it is important to have all these legal frameworks put in place it was also important that us as individuals attitude of the wider society changes too. I now understand how crucial it is being non judgemental and accepting people for who they are. Gaining consent is essential before commencing any treatment of care (Nursing and Midwifery Code, 2008) this clearly made realise that supporting service users right to decline care and respecting their choice at all times was extremely vital. In conclusion to day three, I understand the crucial nature of respecting everyone’s faith and beliefs although some of us are physically or mentally different, we all have an equal right to expect equal treatment and opportunity. For me to perform in nursing at my best the service users must be given an equal stake in it. Diversity is should be embraced as this is what makes the world and interesting place to live. Log Four One of the learning outcomes of day four was to describe the key skills of communication. I will start by saying that communication is the key to everything, without the ability to communicate I could not write this and you would be unable to understand it. Communication is sharing our understandings (Barber, 1993 cited by Hinchcliff et al, 2008). Verbal communication consists of the use of words and language. It is used to think about an idea to share experiences and to validate the meaning of perceptions about the world and one’s place in it (Arnold and Boggs, 2007). Most people would consider verbal communication to be our primary communicative tool and people’s choice of language can vary according to education, race, beliefs and other socio economic factors. We looked at various ways of communicating with different individuals, approaching them the right way without feeling patronised or disrespected. I understood the importance of non-verbal communication, how vital it can be to do the simplest things such as being alert of my body language and posture. I learned different forms of non-verbal communication that I was not aware of before such as appearance, clothing, smell, grooming (Handout Day four, Page 2). Such simple things have now alerted me more on the way a person portrays themselves. Something else new was paralanguage because I did not know that things such as rhythm, rate, volume, pitch, stress are called paralanguage (Burnard, 1997). We also watched a DVD of dementia service users listening to live music. Watching the video they looked happy singing along to all tunes. At the end of this I took home the confidence to do what will be best for my patients regardless of others, also I now know other forms of communicating with disabled sufferers such as being creative or organising other forms of social activities even have symbols or drawings that they can point at to expressed how they are feeling or what they want or need, all conscious person are still able to communicate despite the severity of their disability (Kraszewski and McEwen, 2010). This is where eye contact, proximity, touch and facial expression become important to show care and attentiveness. Although caring for people in distress may be emotionally demanding and challenging, I develop the skill of understanding my role as a nurse as well as remembering why I chosen to be a nurse (Sully and Dallas, 2005). To add to this, we did and exercise of describing shape for colleagues to draw, at first I was feeling incompetent to give the right instruction as I am always panicking but when calm and listening attentively I was able to deliver the appropriate instruction without confusion. This taught me to be calm and attentive to my service users at all times. Something new I learned is that older people sometimes find it hard to reveal private information to younger individuals, even if a nurse, so it is important to show respect when communication by asking how they will like to be addressed rather than assumed that their first names are acceptable. I am now extremely aware of how to communicate with people using the right approach and bring creativity to my workplace. I became aware that although the colours, setting or machine noise and everyone around me may affect my level of communication, I am now competent not to let that distract me and still provide the best possible standard of care for my service users. Log Five One of my chosen learning outcomes for day five was to recognise when communication skills have been effective. I was absent on day five and missed out on all the discussions that were made during the session, however, looking at the handouts of other sessions I was able to indentify that my communication skills have become more effective when I had less need to reflect on previous sessions before approaching the service users or everyone around me. It has now become second nature to me to maintain awareness of paralanguage and non-verbal communication from the first point of contact as well as being aware of what I am saying and I have achieved this by purely maintaining eye contact when talking, giving the appropriate facial expression, touch, asking questions to indicate an interest and at the end of the conversation asking if there is anything else I could do for them. There are other ways that I could develop my skills even when I am not working and is my belief that I will find just as many chances to practice communication skills with my course colleagues and socially as I will professionally. Reading the handout of day five I came across paraphrasing and reflecting feelings, I felt these were new tools to use in practice to help focus and build trust. Summarising was new and useful because I am now knowledgeable of how to review an interview and how to terminate it appropriately leaving the service user feeling satisfied while still using the suitable communication skills. I was also educated by the handout that speaking to older people with patronising speech can have a negative effect on their dignity and well-being (Draper, 2005). Another way of patronising speech that I became aware of was speaking more slowly and in shorter sentences, which does not increase the speech comprehension (Williams, 2004). I became alerted of others ways in meeting challenges, which could be by recognising when am becoming defensive or listening carefully without interruption when someone asks a questions or make suggestions. Log Six My outcome of day six was to identify what communication skills that I have developed and to demonstrate an understanding of the qualities of kindness, sensitivity and compassion. Trying to assess myself as a communicator has been both challenging and interesting. Reflecting on the past I have tried to indentify some shortcomings I have, to gain inspiration from the knowledge base of others and to try and build on my strengths. It has been a real eye opener to me to see and hear what a complex and diverse skill set being a good communicator demands, experts state that communication is composed of diverse methods: words, voice, tone and non-verbal clues. Of these, some are more effective in delivering a message than others. According to research, in a conversation or verbal exchange: Words  are  7% effective, tone of voice  is  38% effective, non-verbal clues  are  55% effective, available on ( itstime. com/aug97. htm). Language is only one part of effective communication and that it can be complimented through non-verbal and paralanguage skills. I have also become intensely aware that communication is not a one way street, that is to say, it is not simply about making myself understood but that it is equally important to use my new found communication skills to better understand what others may be trying to convey to me. After all, in nursing our actions and decisions have a direct effect on people who depend on us to enhance their wellbeing and the greater the accuracy of the information we assemble from or interactions with service users, the better we are able to adapt or respond to the individuals need. The can be no effective transfer or information without effective communication. â€Å"To effectively communicate, we must realise that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others† (Anthony Robbins). I need to add also that the same principle would apply in dealing with one’s colleagues and in becoming a valuable and supportive member of a nursing team. I was happy to learn that I was able to influence colleagues in a positive way with my contributions, it was a nice feeling to know that colleagues remembered my contributions. We did and exercise where we had to build a legonian in teams, I learned that good delegation, calmness and effective listening were the way to achieve this effectively and these will be useful tools to take into practice. During the legonian exercise, colleagues were kind and were all aware that some of us may be extremely sensitive which made feel less pressured, I then realise how crucial it is to be kind, sensitive and compassionate towards others. In conclusion to day six I learned the importance respecting people sensitive nature and regularly show kindness and compassion through my actions. Also learned that working as a team effectively leads to positive outcomes. Over the course, key words that were continuously and regularly mention were kindness, sensitivity and compassion and it struck me that knowing the definitions of these words is not enough, but that communicating these concepts through our actions and by learning to better demonstrate them via enhanced communication skills is actually a display of sensitivity to the needs of the service users in itself. I would like to offer the opinion that these can be grouped under the heading of ‘RESPECT’ and it is through the desire to communicate better and understand more that we can demonstrate our respect for service users and everyone around us furthermore properly meet their needs, and at the same time effectively communicate our own needs to those working around us. I have also learned that I have skills I can now put names to! And that I still have a great deal to learn. References The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives London: NMC Sully, P and Dallas, J (2005) Essential Communication Skills for Nursing Journal of Cultural Diversity, (2008) Madeline M. Maier-Lorentz: Transcultural Nursing: Its Importance in Nursing Practice Chambers, C and Ryder, E (2009) Compassion and Caring in Nursing Kraszewski, S and McEwen, A (2010) Communication Skills for Adult Nurses Equalities. gov. uk www. itstime. com Llewellyn, A and Hayes, S (2008) Fundamentals of Nursing Care: A textbook for Student of Nursing and Healthcare Burnard, P (1997) Effective Communication Skills for Health Professionals Arnold, E and Underman-Boggs, K (2007) Interpersonal relationships:   Professional Communication Skills for Nurses Nursing Times Communication skills: Essence of Care benchmark: Published 13 December (2007) Ellis, R, Gates B, Kenworthy, N (2003): Interpersonal Communication in Nursing: Theory and practice Anthony Robbins (Internet quote) Draper (2005)