To feel valued, people within communicating, also need to know they have been given a right to be able say what they feel they want to express, whilst being respectful to others. Also, to have the right to know what is going on about there health circumstances. Within hospitals, the patients will need to feel that they do have a right to be able to ask questions and to be told information about their own health by the hospital staff so to help feel reassured and informed of what is going to happen.
Within good communication everyone should feel that they are being listened to. This helps promote the sense of being valued by knowing that they have a voice and that they are heard. It also reassures that the initiators information is being taken into account and what they feel that needs to be heard is heard and taken into account. Hospital staff needs to listen to what the patients feel and say, so help the patient to feel involved and in control with what is going on and that all questions are answered and their opinions and choices are taken into consideration. Also, the patient needs to be able to listen in return to what the hospital staff are informing them, so to allow the patient to understand what is going on and what is being said.
Being valued also means to be respected. This will help encourage individuals to have their say without being answered in a negative form of manner. Respect is very important between hospital staff and patients because they both have to respect each other so to keep positive behaviour and attitude flowing during their stay and interaction with each other.
The factors in communication that make us feel valued are the tone of our voices which need to be appropriate for the subject that is being spoken. Hospital staff need to use tone that would sound comforting and friendly whilst talking to the patient about their illness. This is because the patient will feel comfortable and reassured.
Another factor is using relevant expressions on our faces and our body language because this is a source of non-verbal communication which is used a lot and is very effective. Hospital staff would have a open body language towards the patient which sends of a welcoming sense and this is to show the patient that they are free to be asked any questions that they feel they want or need to be answered, no matter how embarrassed the patient my feel, also that the patient feels comfortable around the staff and feel that they are free to talk to them.
Also the facial expressions would need to be reassuring and friendly and appropriate for the subject matter so that the patient will be able to understand how the staff are feeling and about the subject being expressed. For example, is the nurse had to tell a patient how well they are doing, they would use a smiley, positive expression towards the patient. This expression will then be read by the patient and they will then feel reassured and happy.
The volume and pitch of our voices will need to be appropriate for the surroundings and the matter, for example, if the nurse or patient had to talk about their illness within a ward, then the pitch of their voices will be low enough for only the patient and the nurse to hear. This will save any embarrassment or uncomfort for the patient.
Another factor is the things we say and the way we say it, this relates to language skills and the concept of age and disability, because the nurse would have to lower her professional language skills and jargon to a basic and simple level for younger children and people with disabilities. This is because it would help the child and/or disabled individual to be able to understand and feel more confident, which then makes them feel more valued.
Our physical comfort and personal environment whilst communicating is also a key factor because it would be inappropriate if a hospital staff member to invade the patients personal space whilst talking to them, so to have a good and respectful interaction the member of staff will acknowledge that going to close to the patient will cause uncomfort and the patient may feel threatened, whilst minimising his/her level of value.
Another factor is the gestures we use, because gestures help people to understand a bit more about what the initiator is trying to express which then helps the way we communicate and to express how we feel. Nurses within hospitals will use gestures when explaining what is going to happen and what is going on to the patient. This will make the patient feel valued by how the nurse is trying to interact and that they feel well informed and more certain about what it is that he/she is explaining.
We also need to acknowledge the appropriate time, space and place when to express certain things which will also relate to the lack of interruptions which can be present within hospitals and busy environments. For example, the nurse should not talk to the patient about the embarrassing aspects of the patient’s illness within a busy ward, where other patients and people are around, because this will be an inappropriate place to inform them. So they would take them to a quieter room so to talk to them about it and so the patient feels confident to freely ask as many questions as they desire. This helps the patient to feel valued by feeling they are respected and that they can trust the member of staff and feel free to say what they want to say.
Along with ensuring that people are being valued, they need to feel supported as well. Support is “to sustain (a person, the mind, spirits, courage etc) under trial off affliction” (Dictionary.com 2007). People need support when things are unfamiliar, out of control, frightening and new. An obvious example of these situations is within hospitals due to patients finding it new and unfamiliar which can seem frightening to them, especially if they are new to being within hospitals.
We support others within communication by expressing knowledge that is understandable so to ensure that the receiver grasps the concept of what the initiator is trying to express. This is important between hospital staff and patients because the patient needs to understand what the staff is saying or else the patient will feel confused and anxious.
Also, to be able to be successful to send messages between the staff and their patients, the staff needs to understand the concept of who they are speaking to and acknowledge their age, disability and language. This is because hospital staff will need to keep it simple and basic towards to young patients such as children and also people with physical and mental disability so that the children and the disabled will understand what is being said. Also, the staff needs to be prepared for foreign people who do not understand the hospital staffs language; this will mean that the staff will need to send for a member of the hospital who can speak to these foreigners for them.
Another factor of giving support within communication is to have patience and time to repeat what they may have just informed, so to be confident that the listener understands what is being said. Nurses will always be asked to repeat what they have just informed or to explain it in a different way to patients that are not quite sure what was said. So the nurses will then need the patience and time to be able to help the patient to understand. This will make the patient feel more confident and sure of what is going to happen, increasing the feel of support the patient wishes.
Listening and answering questions will also help the need of support because this will increase the knowledge of the individual of what is happening, therefore making them feel more involved and informed. Hospital staff members will need to be able to listen to and answer questions that the patients ask, so to inform them and to comfort them of what is going on.
Providing information, either as a written form/alternative language/format that is appropriate and easy to understand for the patient to read, this again will make the patient feel supported by understanding what is going to happen about their illness.
Hospital staff members need to always be professional with patients and visitors so that the patients and visitors feel appreciative about their stay and confident amongst the hospital staff. This will ensure their support by knowing that they are under good professional care.
To treat others individually with respect is a big factor in showing support because the patients will feel important and well cared for due to the staff members identifying them individually, proving that they are not just “a patient” amongst a lot of other patients, but they are e.g. Mrs Lang. This reassures the patient that they reassured and not forgotten about and that they are under good respectful professional care.
Also the staff within hospitals need to be responsive at all times, especially when the patients want answers and want to talk to staff members. Whilst being responsive, they need to show good positive behaviour because it helps the patient to feel that they are open to ask any questions and they are friendly to approach so to talk to them, which is a well supported way of communicating.
Care values are equally important within good communication because it maintains confidentiality, it promotes equality and diversity and it promotes individual rights. However, the concepts that I have just listed are only relevant for adults. There are ten different ones for children as communication and dealing with children is far more complex. Care values are needed within hospitals so to help good positive communication between the staff and the patients. This is because it reassures the patients are being respected by what they believe, and that they are free to make their own individual choices without any judgement.
Maintaining confidentiality is basically information that must not be given to anyone who does not need to know and who is not authorised to know. To ensure that confidentiality is maintained you have to make sure that computer information must be protected by a password, written information must be locked away e.g. in locker draws, with a padlock. However, if information is passed on it must be in a secure area, the identity of the recipient established and that there is no gossiping. Maintaining confidentiality is a very important act within hospitals, this is because it prevents patients from feeling both uncomfortable and humiliated. Without confidentiality the patients will feel like they are being invaded of privacy and this can cause very negative behaviours amongst everyone within the hospital.
To promote equality and diversity you need to accept everyone’s differences because everyone is different and they are never the same, some people like needles, some people do not, therefore the nurse will need to understand that the patient does not like needles and may refuse to have the jab, so this will mean that the nurse will need to reassuring, calm and stay friendly throughout the jab. In case the nurse got annoyed with the patient for refusing to have the jab, this will cause the patient to be under stress and pressure, causing negative affects, therefore not promoting equality and diversity. You need to be aware of religious needs in case the patient disagrees with procedures so that the staff members will need to then compromise and respect the patient’s beliefs, without forcing them into going through with it. You need to make sure care is fair and to give everyone equal access, meaning the hospital staff need to give all patients the same level of care that they give to all patients, so to not favour any of the patients by giving them extra time and or special treatment, neither should they give less care to a patient who is found to be rude and disrespectful. You need to cater for a variety of languages and dialects so that foreigners will also get the same level of care within the hospital by removing this barrier of communication by getting a member of staff to who specialise in different languages. Finally, to help promote equality and diversity you need to be aware of and avoid stereotypes, so to treat others that may look different to you, in the same equal way than everyone else. This will help positive communication between patient and staff and no negative and unfair judgements will be made.
Promoting individual rights and beliefs is by asking them what they want/need instead of telling them so to allow their right to choose and to discuss. This is because some patients that come to stay in the hospital have a different view of how things should and should not be done to their body, therefore if any patient disagrees in how their body will be treated, the hospital staff members should compromise and respect that person beliefs and allow that patient to decide for themselves and give them a choice of what is to be done or to not be done. This will then ensure that the patient and their beliefs are respectfully treated. Also, to help promote individual rights and beliefs, the hospital staff members need to make sure that they listen to peoples complaints and take action so to ensure the comfort and wellbeing of the patients during their stay; this will help prevent any negative communication and behaviour. Hospital staff also should not force or compel the patient to do something that they do not wish or believe it right, therefore giving the patient control of their body. Staff members should not impose their own views because they need to understand that it is up to the patient of what they think should or should not be done. Finally, hospital staff should always remember to be professional about every patient’s rights and beliefs, and so they need to ensure that they use positive body language, skills and qualities and to use positive language, even if the staff members feel that the patient’s choice is the wrong choice. This will then make the patients feel that they are treated fairly and respectful, therefore improving good communication skills.