Communication can take place between the doctors and nurses in a hospital, it can take place between the ambulance workers, porters and receptionists. They would also communicate to the patients and their families. They all need to interact with each other to do their job. Doctors need to talk to their patients about their conditions and how to get better. Ambulance workers need to tell doctors about the patients they pick up, what happened them, what they did etc.
Communication can take place between dentists, their receptionists and patients. The dentist may have to tell a patient they need to take special toothpaste for the condition of their teeth to improve them.
In health centres, GP’s, nurses, doctors, patients and the receptionists will all have to communicate. The patient will need to inform the receptionist that they are there for their appointment, then the receptionist may inform the doctor/GP/nurse and when they finally see them, they will need to inform them what is wrong and talk to them about themselves.
There are many other places and people that communicate. For example, opticians and patients, midwifes and doctors, nursery teacher with pupils, childline with scared children, home helps with their patients etc.
Oral Communication
Oral communication is a vital part of all care settings, care assistants must be very social for their job and have good communication and interaction skills. Oral communication involves understanding, talking and listening.
An example of oral communication would be a General Practitioner telling a patient what medicine they need to take and how often.
Care workers must orally communicate between themselves and patients. An example of a care worker communicating with another worker could be a doctor discussing to another doctor or nurse about patients and what prescriptions they would need.
Secretary’s need good communication skill as their job involves answering the phone. If they didn’t have good social skills then they couldn’t do the job.
Oral communication allows people to have relationships with each other and build relationships. It usually incorporates body language as well as speech, which helps the other person see how the person is feeling and their reaction.
When care workers are communicating with service users, they may feel vulnerable and the care worker should be able to use appropriate and literate words to help them understand better. Children should be spoken to using simple words and short sentences so they can understand.
Oral communication between the care worker and service user must always be confidential, they need to trust each other.
Written Communication
All forms of written information are made up of text. Written information can only be read to be received. Written information is a very common way of communicating. The information can be written or typed, it is words formed into sentences that can be read. Written information can be kept and looked upon at a later date.
Written communication is permanent. Written communication must be accurate and legible to understand. It must be kept secure and confidential.
A doctor cannot leave important and confidential files lying around for anyone to read. They can lose their job for not respecting the confidentiality of others.
Written communication in care settings must abide by the Data Protection Act by law. It must be kept secure as I previously said and up-to-date. This is a benefit to the client, they don’t want other people finding out personal details, and especially if it is not accurate or true.
Written communication is usually more formal, e.g. medical records, assessments, staff rotas etc. It is a way of contacting other clients and care workers.
Computerised Communication
Computerised communication is a popular form of communication. There are many types of communication via computerised such as email, the Internet, Texting, and IM.
Computerised communication must be accurate. It can be saved or password protected.
If the communication is email/IM it is fast and is quick to reply to. It is confidential and can be kept safe on a computer.
A lot of information can be found from the internet, there are many billions of web pages, and information that can be found on them.
Instant messaging and Texting are most common within the younger generation, this form of communication usually allows instant reply and the use of text lingual. Such as, ‘Hey, WUU2?’
Although most communication will be more formal in health and social care settings, e.g. letters, memos.
An example of computerised communication would be a doctor making out a prescription slip on the computer for the patient to take to the pharmacist to get their medication.
Special Methods
There are some people that cannot communicate in the same ways as most of us. People who are deaf don’t always talk because they can’t hear what the other person is saying or themselves. Deaf people will usually use a sign language. People who are blind cannot read, may use Braille.
British Sign Language
This is the language that belongs to deaf people. The language involves movement of the hands, body, face and head. This is the preferred language of people who are registered blind, there are around 70,000 registered.
The picture opposite is the alphabet in British Sign Language.
Makaton
This is for people with learning difficulties. It is a system that has been developed to help people with these learning difficulties to develop their language skills. It is communicated by speaking, making signs using hands and body language.
Braille
Braille, used by the blind, is a system they would use to read and write. It is raised marks that blind people can read with their fingers. Blind people cannot read written communication so based on the sense of touch they can but in a different way.
‘Each Braille character or cell is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a containing two columns of three dots each. A dot may be raised at any of the six positions to form sixty-four (26) permutations, including the arrangement in which no dots are raised.’
Support/Inhibit Communication
I will now write about factors which support and inhibit communication in care settings.
Positioning
In care settings or in general, when a person is communicating with another, usually their positioning will face the other person. The positioning can either support or inhibit the communication between the people communicating. They should be facing the other person and be at eye level, or within good eye contact. Other people want to feel as though they are being listened to and what their saying is valued.
When talking to a child, sometimes a parent will need to kneel down to speak to them. This supports communication and discipline as the child will be listening more carefully and will be within eye contact of the parent. Although in a scenario that is a service user and a care worker, it will not seem disciplinary but will seem more personal and help support the communication.
People who have bad hearing will often have inhabitations when talking to others. Care workers, when talking to a person with partial hearing must greatly consider their positioning as people with hearing difficulties usually listen and understand with lip reading.
Even in a group, positioning is very important. No-one should feel left out. Everyone should be able to see each other and be able to talk to one another. If people are positioned in a group circle, then it gives out the vibe that everyone is equal and that conversation is open.
Personal Space
Some people need more personal space than others. Sometimes people can be too close for another persons liking, and they will move away. Other times people may feel as though a person is too far and move closer.
Usually when people are more comfortable and intimate with another person, they’ll be able to be closer to them physically. People who they are not close with are usually kept at arms length.
Care workers must take great consideration when invading a service user’s personal space. If a care worker gets too close, and invades a persons space, the person will feel as though they are being aggressive or being dominated.
Emotional State
The emotional state of both service user and care worker can inhibit or support the communication. If the service user is aggressive towards the care worker, they may not take in what the care worker is saying. If the service user is shy then they might not feel comfortable asking certain questions.
Care workers must be very professional, they must forget about their own personal problems when at work, and focus on the feelings and emotions of others.
Time
Care workers must be on time with service users, otherwise the service user will become frustrated or feel as though the care worker doesn’t want to help them. This can inhibit the communication. If the care worker is in a rush and rushes through questions and the time they are with them, the service user may feel upset or annoyed because it’s as though they aren’t being helped and listened to.
Environmental Conditions
This is another thing in which communication can be either inhibited or supported.
In dentists offices there will usually be some background noise to help people relax and feel calmer.
If a care worker was to visit a service user in their home, the background noise of children or T.V may inhibit the communication. The care worker may not be able to hear the service user and may not be able to concentrate.
If the environment in which the care worker and the service user are communicating is cramped or cluttered, it can inhibit communication by making the care worker or service user uncomfortable.
If a person is hot and flustered they might feel frustrated and too uncomfortable that they don’t spend much time with the care worker talking.
There are many environmental conditions that can inhibit communication, simply being temperature, lighting, background noise etc.
Privacy
Everyone has their own right to privacy and care workers must respect that of the service user. Otherwise the service user will find it hard to trust them.
Care workers MUST keep things between them and the service user confidential. This is a key role of a care worker.
If service users do not feel as though they can trust the care worker, then they will not be able to tell then about any problems.
Care workers should be able to talk to the service users in private if they do need to discuss something private.
Physical Problems
Communication can be inhibited by physical problems. If a person is hard of hearing, the care worker should repeat what they say if the service user asks, and not be ignorant towards them.
If a person is blind the care worker should be able to work with them and explain to them what is going on around them.
If the service user is disabled, they should be able to treat them equally and work with them the same as any other person.
Care workers should be able to communicate with anyone, they should always consider the effects of their actions on the clients and make them feel equal, valued and respected.
