The seating would be a barrier if the seats are too far away from each other; the nurse may bring the chairs closer together if they are at opposite ends of the room. Proximity would also be a barrier if the nurse is leaning back on the chair or leaning to far forward towards the wife.
The nurse would have to take into consideration the wife’s mood, because if she seems upset already then the nurse may have to wait until the wife feels a little better before dropping this huge bombshell on her.
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Message sent – the nurse has told the wife that her husband is terminally ill and that he may die. The nurse has to make sure that she has transmitted the information clearly so that the wife can take it in properly. The nurse needs to think about her tone of voice (I.e. she doesn’t raise her voice or lower it too much so that she cant be heard), body language (I.e. make sure that its still open), eye contact (I.e. make sure that she doesn’t stare at the wife so she feels intimidated, and that she doesn’t look away too much so that it makes the wife feel like the nurse isn’t really interested in what’s wrong with her husband. The nurse will be looking for non verbal communication from the wife such as nodding and her facial expressions. She has to keep acceptable eye contact where she looks at the wife for a couple of seconds then looks away repeatedly doing this), proximity (I.e. close but not too close like the chairs are opposite each other). The wife will also pick up on the nurse’s non-verbal communication such as; touch (this will show the wife that the nurse is concerned).
The nurse has to think about whether there will be any distractions (I.e. other service users (I.e. someone knocking on the door to speak to the nurse), lighting (I.e. is it too bright or dark?), temperature (I.e. is it too hot or cold?), seating (I.e. are the chairs too far apart?)).
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Message received – the wife has taken in the information that the nurse has just told her about her husband. The wife may react to the news such as; shocked, angry, worried etc. The nurse has to think about reflective/active listening (i.e. if the wife didn’t understand something that the nurse said then she will show reflective listening by repeating what the nurse said so that she can explain it a little better), touch (I.e. comfort the wife by hugging or just touching her hand), body language (I.e. open so that the wife knows that the nurse is also worried about her husband’s health), expressions (I.e. slight smile, head angle), empathy (I.e. the nurse has put her self in the wife’s shoes to figure out how she may react to the information so that she can show empathy).
- Message decoded – the wife has received and stored the information given by the nurse. The nurse needs to make sure that she has got the meaning of the information across to the wife about her husband’s condition.
- Message understood – the wife has received and decoded the information given by the nurse, if the wife doesn’t understand she may ask the nurse for clarification.
In my second scenario I am going to explain how a social worker will tell a child that both his parents have died.
- Ideas occur – the social worker thinks of some ideas of how she is going to communicate the situation to the child and that she is the one tell the child.
The social worker thinks: what am I going to communicate? (I.e. that the child’s parents have died), why do I want to communicate this? (I.e. the child needs to know that he isn’t going to be seeing his parents again), who am I going to communicate with? (I.e. the child), and what is the best way to communicate this? (I.e. verbal). The social worker will think about the timing, where and when she should speak to the child. E.g. in a room that is away from everyone else.
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Message coded – the social worker has organised their thoughts/ideas and knows how they are going to communicate this to the child also taking into consideration his age. The social worker needs to think about what tone of voice they should use (I.e. soft, comforting), body language (I.e. open, arms slightly folded, leaning forward so that the child can hear them clearly). The social worker has to think about the right words to use so that the child doesn’t get confused.
The social worker thinks: what language should I use? (I.e. the mother tongue that the child speaks (I.e. English)), what does the child already know about the situation (i.e. nothing, the child has just been called out of school).
The social worker will take the child through to a private room where it’s only them two. The social worker will take into consideration the seating (is she/he to close/far away from the child), proximity (is she/he leaning to far forward/away form the child) and also his/her tone of voice (is it too soft/low that they child wont be able to hear, or too loud so that someone in the corridor may hear?)
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Message sent – the social worker has just told the child that he won’t be seeing his parents again as they have died in a car crash. The social worker has to make sure that they have transmitted the information clearly so that the child can take it in properly, also considering his age that they shouldn’t mention horrific scenes. The social worker needs to think about their tone of voice (I.e. they doesn’t raise their voice or lower it too much so that they cant be heard), body language (I.e. make sure that its still open), eye contact (I.e. make sure that they don’t stare at the child so that he feels intimidated, and that they don’t look away too much so that it makes the child feel like the social worker isn’t really interested in that he has to live the rest of his life without his parents. They have to keep acceptable eye contact, where they looks at the child for a couple of seconds then look away repeatedly doing this), proximity (I.e. close but not too close like the chairs are opposite each other). The social worker may also use touch to show that she/he is taking into consideration the child’s feelings.
The social worker has to think about whether there will be any distractions: lighting (I.e. is it too bright or dark?), temperature (I.e. is it too hot or cold?), seating (I.e. are the chairs too far apart?). The social worker has to think about these distractions because if there was any distraction then the social worker or child may get confused with what’s going on and what’s been said.
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Message received - the child has taken in the information that the social worker has just told him. The social worker has to think about reflective/active listening (i.e. if the child didn’t understand he will show reflective listening by repeating what the social worker said so that they can explain it a little better), touch (I.e. comfort the child by hugging or just touching his hand), body language (I.e. open so that the child knows that the social worker is also concerned about the situation), expressions (I.e. slight smile, head angle), empathy (I.e. the social worker has put their selves in the child’s shoes to figure out how he may react to the information so that they can show empathy). The social worker will look for non verbal communication from the child such as facial expressions and nodding to show that they understand.
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Message decoded – the child has received and stored the information given by the social worker about the situation. The social worker needs to make sure that they have got the meaning of the information across to the child about what has happened to his parents. It is the social workers responsibility to make sure that the child has received the information.
- Message understood – the child has received and decoded the information given by the social worker, if the child doesn’t understand fully he may ask the social worker for clarification.
