Why Does a Nurse Need Good Communication Skills: It All Starts in Nursing School
Good communication skills play an important role throughout a patient's treatment cycle, and a significant portion of that responsibility falls on nurses. As a nurse, you're responsible for relaying information to patients, doctors, and other professionals in the healthcare industry. So, you must be able to communicate effectively and clearly, especially under intensely stressful situations. Good written and verbal communication is always valuable in the nursing profession.
According to a 2014 research paper, Communication in Nursing Practice, nurses who exhibit courtesy, security, and kindness to their patients through actions and words are generally more successful in building a good rapport. The paper established that nurses should go beyond these traits. They must be able to communicate with the patients and understand their specific concerns and experiences.
To achieve that, nurses must carefully evaluate where and when to communicate with their patients. For example, you should allow sufficient time for each patient interaction. So, having a meaningful conversation with hesitant, upset, nervous, or incapacitated patients may take longer time. Such patients may find rushed conversations frustrating or rude, which can hinder your ability to establish open conversation and slow down or even negate the healing process.
How Does a Degree Program Teach Nurses Good Communication Skills?
Not everyone is born with natural communication instincts. Even great communicators need additional training and insight to be more effective. Due to the importance of good communication skills to the emotional, psychological, and clinical wellbeing of patients and nurses, most Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs incorporate communication training in their curricula.
Coursework in professional interpersonal communication, including verbal and written communication, can help prepare nurses for the workplace. While many people appreciate the significance of verbal communication, the need to use clear and concise written communication is sometimes underestimated.
What About Communicating Using Technology?
Today's technology advancements mean that nurses have to keep electronic medical records. It is, therefore, critical for nurses to clearly document patient records and treatment plans, which could be helpful when cases of insurance denial or malpractice lawsuits arise.
Nurses who have undertaken courses in communication skills often have a distinct advantage upon entering the field. Students should evaluate various communication techniques and try to apply them in the classroom and in clinical settings.
Nurse-patient interactions must always be handled with care, and students need to learn how to approach different scenarios with the acquired skills. For example, nurses should avoid communicating in complex jargon, and instead articulate issues in simpler language that the patient understands.
Why You Need Formal Education to Become a Nurse
The nursing profession is often based on empirical evidence. However, statistics form a vital part of human knowledge. Evidence-based practice requires nurses and clinical professionals to read literature that incorporates quantitative research reports. Although the nursing profession includes prevention of illnesses, promotion of good health, and caring for the sick, it also involves statistical skills like measurements, interpreting charts and diagrams, and drawing. All these skills can only be acquired through formal education in nursing.
Human beings respond differently to exposure to various risk factors, sicknesses, and treatment plans. Therefore, nurses should learn to summarize their findings, interpret results, and report healthcare data in an accurate manner. Here are the benefits of formal education in the nursing profession:
- Enhanced patient care: Through formal education, nurses are able to prioritize treatments and determine when a patient needs immediate medical attention or follow-up care. You can use statistics to identify specific patterns in signs and symptoms and respond better to medical changes to your patients.
- Evidence-based nursing practices: Evidence-based practices can be well established in the nursing profession through formal education, especially statistics. Nurses need basic understanding of statistics to be able to read, comprehend, and interpret medical literature.
- Compare options for nursing practice: Through formal education, nurses can determine whether the nursing intervention they provide is effective. For example, you could tell if replacing intravenous fluids before a week can reduce infection.
- Changing U.S. health care system: The healthcare system is set to undergo massive changes to improve patient care. Formal education is an essential way to prepare nurses to meet patients' needs, deliver safe and quality care, and advance science.
- Healthcare becoming more complex and challenging: Today's nurses need new knowledge to help improve patient care in the ever-evolving and complex healthcare sector.
Moreover, formal education is today a mandatory requirement for one to become a registered nurse (RN). You will need to successfully complete a formal nursing education program to be eligible for the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses) exam.
Are You Interested in Becoming an ADN Nurse?
If the nursing profession is calling you, consider ECPI University's Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program. This degree is taught through an accelerated schedule. For more information, connect with a helpful admissions advisor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
DISCLAIMER - ECPI University makes no claim, warranty, or guarantee as to actual employability or earning potential to current, past or future students or graduates of any educational program we offer. The ECPI University website is published for informational purposes only. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained on the ECPI.edu domain; however, no warranty of accuracy is made. No contractual rights, either expressed or implied, are created by its content.
For more information about ECPI University or any of our programs click here: http://www.ecpi.edu/.