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Introduction

'A 2000 word reflection on one specific conversation where personal communication and interpersonal skills has had a direct impact on the patient's nursing care.' During this assignment I am going to write a reflection, relating to communication and interpersonal skills in clinical practice. Throughout the piece of work I will be maintaining confidentiality at all times by not mentioning the real name of the client, or the trust that I worked in. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have set out a code of conduct on how to maintain confidentiality within a health care setting. They say that you must treat information about patients and clients as confidential and use it only for the purpose in which it was given. Nursing staff should ensure that clients understand that some information may be made available to other members of the team who are involved in the delivery of care. We as nurses must safeguard against breaches of confidentiality and protect information from improper disclosure at all times (NMC Code of Conduct 2006). As I am reflecting on an incident that happened whilst I was working out in practice, I will be using a reflective cycle to help me thoroughly describe what happened during the incident, the one I will be using is known as the Gibbs' Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988). The incident that I am going to write about involved a gentleman aged 55. I am going to change the name of the gentleman for confidentiality reasons and therefore will name him Frank. ...read more.

Middle

suggests the disease affects fine motor which gives the inability to control muscles related to speech, swallowing and facial movement therefore this is explains why Frank has difficulties communicating verbally. However, non-verbal which can also be described as 'therapeutic communication' was able to stimulate a conversation and reduce Frank's anxieties. Sometimes even nurses and other professional practitioners fail to remember that just because a client has problems with speech doesn't necessarily mean that their hearing is also impaired, so talking to clients is extremely important (Lemone & Burke, 2008). Pollard (2008) goes on to identify that people with HD may have cognitive difficulties, such as slower thought processes and problems maintaining focus and organising their thoughts. This means that it is important for us as nurses and other healthcare professionals to give someone with HD time to process what is being said to them and to wait for an answer without interrupting or asking further questions, which is exactly how I managed to interact with Frank. Communication is the first step in building a personal relationship with a client and is an important technique for us as nurses to use when we assess the care needs of a client to ensure they receive the best care possible. As Marquis & Huston (2009) points out communication is a vital source in client care and communication starts when we initially make contact with our clients. I found that non-verbal communication is an extremely effective method of communication to use especially with people whom have impairment with communication due to their diagnosis like in Frank's situation. ...read more.

Conclusion

However, I feel like it greatly important in our role as a nurse that we do spend that little bit of extra time with clients whom need that additional support to make a difference to them. There were numerous occasions that I would see a nurse treat Frank with no eye contact or no verbal communication. I think back now to how Frank will have felt. Fortunately I was able to spend valuable time with Frank to enable him to communicate effectively to me. However I will always be aware of the importance of communication and interpersonal skills for the appropriate interaction with clients to meet their individual needs. If another situation occurred that was similar to the one I encountered with Frank I believe I would be better equipped to deal with it due to the invaluable experience I gained from the one with Frank. I would act in a similar way by putting my communication and interpersonal skills to good use and rely on my determination to make a difference in the lives of clients. The empathy and understanding I felt towards Frank would have come much sooner as it did take a me a quite some time to learn how to deal with the situation but I am confident that in future I would be less hesitant and more confident in my ability and I would not feel the feelings of frustration which I initially felt in this one. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of my time with Frank and have learned valuable lessons in the importance of adapting to different forms of communication. ...read more.

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