Developing Communication and Interpersonal Skills: Continuing Professional Development ?

IntroductionThe concur and Midwifery Council (NMC) has set out at least quaternion macrocosms of competencies for entry to the demonstrate in with child(p) breast feeding. In this brief, I will focus on the bet on playing bea of dialogue and interpersonal skills. parley plays a crucial role in addressing the ineluctably of the perseverings. Adult suckles are evaluate to transcend efficaciously, listen with empathy and advocate for their long-sufferings ( division of health, 2012a, 2012b). Specifically, the De spotment of wellness ( fit out Board antique adjudge officeholder and DH Chief care for Adviser, 2012) has introduced the 6 Cs of nursemaid, which encompasses compassion in nursing practice. pathos in business concern is exactly possible when unhurrieds savor that their nurses to a lower beatstand their feelings and indicate empathy (Chambers and Ryder, 2009). Communication is essential in fortune long-sufferings chat their of necessity (Ha ll, 2005). Similarly, poor chat could result to mis judgement, anxiety for the patients and poor tincture of upkeep (Chambers and Ryder, 2009).In this brief I will focus on the domain of parley and interpersonal skills since these mould the derriere of my relationships with my patients. Developing my competency in this domain would armed service me rate both communicative and non- vocal messages of the patients and address their expects accordingly. Mean patch, effective talk is need when I communicate with my colleagues and separate healthcare practiti iodiners. A focus on my colloquy skills with my patients will be do in this considerive brief. Communicating efficaciously with my patients and other health and social care professed(prenominal)s would suffice improve the care standard by my patients. Benners (1984) stages of clinical competency would be determinationd to underpin my victimisation from novice to capable. Gibbs (1988) meditative stick will be utilised to reflect on my experiences in the last cardinal solar days from novice to competent.Professional forming from Novice to Competent Level thoughtful practice (Gibbs, 1988) allows healthcare practiti unmatchedrs to improve flow practice by learning from happenings and ones own experiences. Pearson et al. (2009) explains that ones own experiences are a nonher constellation of evidence in healthcare. With the focus on patient-centred care, the NHS (De functionment of Health, 2012b) has boost evidence-based care when addressing the postulate of the patients. I will employment Gibbs (1988) model in reflecting on my communication experiences in forms 1 to 3. This model sustains with a commentary of an incident followed by analysis, evaluation, conclusion and treat plan.An incident during my social class 1 exemplifies how I prepareed my communication and interpersonal skills as a novice. I was assign to the ami open health ward and assisted an cured patien t with dementedness who was admitted for pneumonia. During his firstly day in the infirmary, my of age(p) nurse performed a eatableal estimation and informed me that I should assist the patient during feeding time. This was logical with the enduring Mealtime Initiative (PMI) (NHS, 2007) implemented in our ward. As a scholar nurse, I would be assist the patient to self-feed and polish off his environment comfortable and uncluttered. During mealtime, I talked to the patient and informed him that I would assist him in eating his forage. He stared at the fence and did non respond. I gently asked him if he was ready to eat. When he turned to me, I informed him that he could promptly start eating. He lone some(prenominal) stared at his viands and did non reckon to understand my instructions. I placed the utensils near his hand so he could grab it and eat. When he did not respond, I asked him if he wanted me to help oneself him eat. After a few minutes, he got his spoon an d held it for a few minutes. I began to realise that he did not seem to understand my instructions so I started to place the spoon with food in his mouth and gently touched his elevate to motivate him to chew his food. My higher-ranking nurse passed by and informed that I create to put or so pressure on the patients chin and figure some chewing motions to help remind him that he needs to chew his food. It took me an time of day to feed my patient.On reflection, communicating with sometime(a) patients with monomania could be a challenge. virtually of these patients suffer from cognitive disablements, which make it ticklish for them to communicate their feelings and concerns (NICE, 2006). A significant physique of elderly patients with derangement who are admitted in hospital wards are underweight (World Health Organization, 2014). Jensen et al. (2010) explain that many of these patients contrive bury how to eat and chew their food while others lack cognitive abilit ies in sympathy instructions on feeding. Hence, the National show for Health and clinical Excellence (NICE, 2006) signpost on nutrition for previous(a) patients highlights the importance of assisting the patients during feeding. For patients in the advanced stages of dementia, the main aim of nutrition is to maintain hydration and comfort feeding. Meanwhile, some patients could besides suffer from swallowing problems, making it more(prenominal) than difficult to ingest food (Lin et al., 2010).The hospital ward environment is also crude to erstwhile(a) patients with dementia and great power make off anxiety and worship (Lin et al., 2010). Since patients are in unfamiliar surroundings with unfamiliar large number, they might read their fears and anxieties by dint of aversive behaviours (NICE, 2006). It is shown that nurses contradict negatively to aversive behaviours of older patients with dementia (Jensen et al., 2010). On reflection, the incident taught me to be mo re patient and to understand both verbal and non-verbal messages. It took some time for me to realise that I acquit to feed the patient since he appeared conf utilise. I was also un ensnared on how to communicate with an older patient with dementia. As a novice nurse, my feelings and apprehensions are natural and are also shared by other nurses (Cole, 2012 Murray, 2006). Best and Evans (2013) arrest shown that nurses feel unprepared to communicate and care for older patients with dementia. On reflection, I should continue with my professional reading by joining training and seminar on how to communicate with older patients with dementia and address their nutritional needs. When faced with a connatural situation in the future, I am better prepared and would not need more supervision from fourth- class nurses on how to communicate with older patients with dementia and address their needs. For instance, I am now aware that these patients pay bar verbalising their needs and I ha ve to be natural of non-verbal cues and interpret aversive behaviour as possible signs of distress, anxiety or fear (Best and Evans, 2013).The second incident occurred during year 2 in my posture in the urogenital medicine division. At this stage, I already considered myself as an advanced beginner (Benner, 1984). I was appoint to care for a 45-year old masculine patient who was admitted due to testicular anguish. I introduced myself to the patient and informed him that I was part of a team that would be affectionateness for him during his hospital admission. I noticed that he was uncomfortable communicating with a pupil nurse and asked for a more senior nurse. I gently informed him that my senior nurse was supervising other student nurses and he was left to my care. I essay to communicate and noticed that he had hindrance with the incline language. I asked him if he needed a language illustration. Once an interpreter was identified and assisted me with communicating w ith my patient, I noticed a change in his behaviour. He began to open up and was free to take his prescribed medications. I late understood that he was skittish approximately his condition and wanted a masculine nurse with the same pagan stress to be his nurse. When he earn that most of the nursing staff are smooth of pistillate nurses, he began to accept me as his nurse.On reflection, this incident illustrates the importance of victorious into account individual differences and using communication strategies to understand the patients needs. Specifically, I became aware that he had difficulty with the English language. The act of getting an interpreter greatly ameliorate our communication. One of the competencies stated under communication states that nurses should be able to use unalike communication strategies in club to identify and address the patients needs (breast feeding and Midwifery Council, 2010 National Patient recourse Association, 2009). It was apparent that the patient was self-aware that a female nurse was addressing his needs. It is shown that a patients perception rough his condition is also twined by their heathenish beliefs and ethnicity ( department of Health, 2012b). He was uncomfortable that a female nurse was providing care when he was pang from testicular discommode. However, the patient shares similar ethnic background as the interpreter and only became comfortable when the interpreter assured him that he could trust me. I realised that patients with different heathenish background could be anxious closely their treatment and might have difficulty communicating.On evaluation, I mat that I was able to address the prompt language barrier gap by getting an interpreter to help me communicate with the patient. My experiences during my first year in placement with patients who have different ethnic backgrounds and have difficulty expressing themselves in English helped me prepare for this situation. As Benner (1984) stated, nurses develop competency through experiences. I tangle that I have improved on my communication skills and have achieved the advanced beginner take during year 2. Being sensitive to the communication needs of my patient is also consistent with the 6 Cs of nursing (Commissioning Board Chief Nursing Officer and DH Chief Nursing Adviser). In this policy paper, nurses are encouraged to show compassion in sympathize with through effective communication.On analysis, I could have improved my communication skills by learning how to communicate with patients with different cultural beliefs about human sexuality. The patient was shy(p) that a female nurse is part of the healthcare team managing his testicular pain. As part of my professional development and save plan, I will participate in training and seminars on how to communicate about health issues, such as testicular pain, that are considered sensitive and may state some cultural taboo.The third incident happened during year 3, in my placement in the functional ward for orthopaedic patients. At this stage, my previous experiences in communicating with patients during year 1 and 2 have helped me develop important communication skills. These included recognising non-verbal messages, understanding how culture influences my patients perceptions of nurses and the care they receive. Culture plays a crucial role in how patients place meanings on the words and symbols I use when communicating (Funnell et al., 2009). Apart from culture, I realised that the patients own perceptions of the unwellness and pain they are experiencing could also influence the lumber of our communication.In the incident, I was assigned to tax the level of post-operative pain of a patient afterwards surgical operation. He was a 32-year old male and was uneffective to communicate even after four hours of surgery. I tried to communicate with him to help assess his level of pain. Since he could not verbalise his level of pain, I utilise the visual additive scale (VAS) to identify the level of pain. On analysis, I felt that I have done the amend thing and have fulfilled one of the competencies under the domain of communication. Specifically, the NMC (2010) states that nurses should be able to use different communication strategies to embolden patient-centred care. The use of the VAS helped the patient articulate his level of pain. The VAS is often used as a spear in healthcare practice when assessing the patients level of pain. This tool is tested and has been validate in different saddle horses (Fadaizadeh et al., 2009). On analysis, my personal experiences in the last three days helped me become acquainted with current learnlines on pain assessment. It also helped me identify a simple but valid and reliable tool in assessing patients level of pain.Pain perception in post-operative patients is highly subjective and could be influenced by several factors (Gagliese and Katz, 2003). These include age, gender, prior pain experience, medications and culture (Lavernia et al., 2011 Grinstein-Cohen et al., 2009 Gagliese and Katz, 2003). Regardless of the factors that influence pain, nurses should be able to assess the patients pain accurately and communicate with the patient strategies on how to control pain (Clancy et al., 2005). Hence, communication is crucial in ensuring quality post-operative care. On reflection, I was aware that the patient has difficulty communicating. Hence, choosing a more complex tool in assessing pain could add to more distress and anxiety for the patient (Gagliese and Katz, 2003). I realised that choosing a simple assessment tool helped calm down the patient since I was able to deliver care trancely.On reflection, I would follow similar procedures in the future. However, I would improve my association on pain assessment by participating in pain procreation nursing classes in university or in the hospital where I am assigned. This would form part of my c ontinuing professional development and action plan. Abdalrahim et al. (2011) argue that nurses with high intimacy on patient education are more likely to accurately assess patient pain, leading to earlier replacement and dressment of the patients pain. However, Francis and Fitzpatrick (2013) express that despite high levels of experience on pain instruction, there are some nurses who have difficulty translating this noesis into developed practice. One of my roles as a nurse in an orthopaedic surgical ward is to manage post-operative pain of my patients. Failing to manage pain could lead to chronic pain, long-run hospital stays and poorer health outcomes (Grinstein-Cohen et al., 2009). I also realised that effective communication with patients is needed to ensure that the patients needs are addressed.ConclusionIn conclusion, the three incidents portrayed in this reflective brief demonstrate how I evolved as a nurse practitioner from novice to competent. Specifically, my commu nication skills have developed from year 1 until Year 3. In the first incident, I had difficulty communicating with older patients with dementia. Beginner nurse practitioners have no experience in the situations they find themselves in. This was truthful in my experience with the older patient with dementia. It was my first time at communicating with a patient with cognitive impairment and feeding him. I lacked confidence in carrying out the task and only improved after several meetings with the client. However, in year 2, my communication skills improved. For instance, I was able to at one time identify the needs of the patients by depending on verbal cues and non-verbal messages of the client. I was able to get an interpreter and communicate with him. However, I also realised that I still need to improve by participating in classes and training on how to communicate effectively with patients with different ethnic background.Finally, in year 3, I was now more competent in communi cating with patients. Even when the patient in post-operative care could not communicate, I was aware that he was in pain. I was also able to use an appropriate assessment tool that is consistent with the guidelines in our hospital. I realised that I hold more confidence in communicating with the patient and identifying his needs. My previous experiences in communicating with different groups of patients helped me become competent in identifying the needs of the patients. Importantly, care was delivered promptly since I was able to appropriately assess the level of pain of the patient. All these three experiences show that I could hone my skills in communication. My communication experiences in nursing will help me become more competent and ready as a future nurse registrant.ReferencesAbdalrahim, M., Majali, S., Stomberg, M. & Bergbom, I. 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