1. Personal Qualities of a Healthcare Worker HT04.02Effective Communication

2. Communication Communication – the exchange of information, thoughts, ideas and feelings Verbal – spoken words and written communication Non-Verbal – facial expressions, body language, and touch

3. Communication Process Sender: a individual who creates a message to convey information or an idea to another person Message: information, ideas, or thoughts Receiver: the person who receives the message from the sender Feedback: verbal or nonverbal, occurs when the receiver responds to the message

4. Communication

5. Example Cindy: Hi. Do you know where the library is located? John: Yes, it’s located on the second floor. Who is the sender? Who is the receiver? What is the message?

6. Factors that Interfere with Communication The message must be clear. The sender must deliver the message in a clear and concise manner. The receiver must be able to hear and receive the message. The receiver must be able to understand the message. Interruptions or distractions must be avoided.

7. Listening Paying attention to and making an effort to hear what the other person is saying. Requires constant practice Techniques Show interest and concern Be alert Eye Contact Avoid Interrupting the Speaker

8. Listening Con’t Pay Attention Avoid thinking about how you are going to respond Try to eliminate your own prejudices and see the other person’s point of view Eliminate distractions Ask questions if you do not understand

9. Barriers to Communication Deafness or hearing loss Have difficulty receiving messages Use body language, short sentences and signs Blindness or impaired vision Use a soft tone, describe events, explain noises Announce your presence as you enter the room Aphasia or speech impairments Difficult to remember words, may find it hard to pronounce words Encourage them to take their time, speak slowly, short answers Psychological Barriers Prejudice, attitudes, stereotypes “dumb blonde” or “lazy bum” or “fat slob”

10. Cultural Diversity Language differences Speak slowly, use simple words Eye contact Some cultures believe that looking down shows respect Touch In some cultures it is inappropriate to touch someone on the head Handshakes can show lack of respect

11. Recording & Reporting Sense of sight – note the color of the skin, swelling, rashes or sores, the color of urine or stool, amount of food eaten Sense of smell – body odor or unusual odors of breath, wounds, urine or stool Sense of touch – used to feel the pulse, dryness or temperature of skin Sense of hearing – used to listen to respirations, cough, abnormal body sounds and speech

12. Recording & Reporting Con’t Subjective observations: cannot be seen or felt, usually complaints from the patient I have a headache I feel nauseous Objective observations: can be seen or measured a bruise, cut or rash 123 lbs BP 125/77

13. Practice Justice, a 23 year-old female patient complains of dizziness. States “she feels nauseous when standing up”. VS are as follows: BP = 140/90, Weight = 137lbs, Height = 5’5”, Temperature = 99.2. Currently has a Rx for penicillin 500mg bid q8h. Has a bruise on abd. What is the subjective information? Objective?

14. Effective Written Communication Writing should be neat Recorded information should be accurate, concise and complete Only objective observations should be noted Errors should be crossed out neatly with a straight line, have “error” recorded by them and initialed by the person making the error Example: Jon John