Effective Communication Nursing

Effective communication is defined as a two-way exchange of information between the patient and the nurse with the intention of the purposeful communication being clearly understood. Nurses are responsible for providing teaching to their patients and their families. However, the nurse must be aware of the various factors that can impact the ability of the patient to learn. These factors include: the need of the learner, the readiness to learn, past experiences, emotional status, current knowledge base, cognitive ability, and the learning style or disabilities (Bastable, 2014). In order for the nurse to determine the learning ability of the patient, they must use the nursing process starting with assessment. During the assessment, other factors should also be determined. Nurses must understand the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial maturation within each patient to determine the strategies for learning. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development is the base framework guide to understanding a patient’s development (Arnold & Boggs, 2015). While this may influence their ability to learn, age related development alone is never a …show more content…
Effective communication is the foundation needed to provide therapeutic goal-directed teaching. In my nursing practice, I have a variety of patients of different nationalities, economic statuses, genders, and cognitive developmental stages. I need to effectively determine each patients learning style in order to have successful communication. My continuous assessment of my patient’s response to teaching allows me to determine if my communication was successful or lost in translation and other methods need to be used. The goal of Healthy People 2020 is to eliminate health disparities among the population (Bastable, 2014). I will continue my education and learning in order to teach to the best of my