The 5 C's Of Effective Communication In Nursing

Communication is an essential part of nursing which allows nurses to provide the best possible care for patients. Good communication means being able to build and maintain positive relationships in order to meet the needs of each patient. It is a two way process and only occurs if the message has been accurately sent to the receiver. To ensure a message is clearly sent one must overcome various communication barriers which can affect the overall understanding of the message being sent. To achieve this nurses must be able to express themselves verbally and non-verbally through the skills of effective listening, empathy and respect. However we as health professionals enable and disable communication in a variety of ways which affect how a patient …show more content…
Verbal and non-verbal communication skills are required in order to effectively communicate with patients (Gosnell, C, 2015). Verbal communication exchanges messages using words or language (Gosnell, C, 2015). For verbal communication to be successful and for the receiver to properly understand what is being said, the message must have meaning. For verbal communication to be more effective the message conveyed must follow the 5 c’s of communication, complete, clear, concise, cohesive and courteous. By expressing yourself verbally helps clarify misunderstandings and provides any missing information. Non-verbal communication is referred to as body language and reveals more about a person’s thoughts and feelings than verbal communication. These include facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, posture and touch (Royal College of Nursing, 2015). By showing facial expressions, such as smiling or frowning, a simple hand gesture or the way we stand or sit can reveal how a person feels or whether we are interested in what the speaker is saying (Royal, College of Nursing, 2015). Touch is also important as it provides reassurance and shows that we as nurses understand and care about the patient (Gosnell, C, 2015). Non-verbal communication is important as it reinforces the verbal message. For example one may nod their head when saying yes to emphasise that they agree with the other person. These non-verbal signals can give cues and further information over verbal communication. For effective communication to occur, verbal and nonverbal communication skills must send the same message. Although verbal and non-verbal communication skills are important to effectively communicate with clients, empathy and respect also play an important