Therapeutic Communication

Therapeutic Communication

"To effectively communicate, we must realize 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) Effectively communicating with others can be a difficult and learning experience. Knowing that what you said may or may not have been correctly interpreted by the listener can be a challenge due to the fact that everyone is different and has their own perspectives. Therapeutic communication, a specific type of communication used in the medical field, is defined as a process in which the nurse consciously influences a client or helps the client to a better understanding through verbal or nonverbal communication (Farfex, 2012). This way of transferring information uses a variety of skills and techniques to effectively pass knowledge from one individual to another. Such techniques are as follows: listening, exploring, nonverbal communication, focusing on the patient, and learning how to be an effective and efficient communicator.

Based on a study completed by Tan Jia Xing Jasmine at the National University of Singapore highlights two skills that nurses should adopt; these skills will produce a positive outcome when communicating therapeutically with patients. The first skill that Jasmine elaborates on is the use of effective, proper listening in all situations. The article states, "It [listening] involves good positioning, posture, facial expression and eye contact, which demonstrates a nurse's genuine interest in the patient (Jasmine, 2009)."These factors contribute to the patients well-being and therapeutic improvement. For example, correctly and coherently communicated imformation will result in less error and increased satisfaction for both the patient and the nurse. All patients deserve the full attention of their nurse; meaning that whomever is attending to the patient should soley focus on the patient and the situation.

Jasmine then goes on to explain the second skill, exploring, and how it will enhance communication between patients and nurses. What the article expresses by means of exploring is to ask probing questions and to try and devulge into what a patient is trying to communicate. By asking such open-ended questions it allows the patient to give a full and hopefully detailed answer rather than receiving a "yes" or a "no" from the pateint which may exclude important details that may be helpful in the patients recovery or in the nurses understanding of the situation. By asking such questions, one can not predict the response from the patient,so exploring can be a learing process and requires practice in order to perfect one's therapeutic communication skills. Some patients will have difficulty opening up and really communicating their concerns and/or message, so it is important for the nurse to make the patient feel as comfortable as possible(Jasmine, 2009).

Nonverbal actions are also an essential part of therapeutic communication. According to research done by Susan M. Grover, noverbals consist of facial expressions, eye movements, gestures, posture, and proxemics (personal space). Sometimes verbal cues may be misread so nurses should make a conscientious effort to reassure verbal cues with nonverbal ones. An example from the article, Shaping Effective Communication Skills and Therapeutic Relationships at Work, demonstrates that depression can be assessed by the