Communication Skills in Nursing

What comes to your mind when you think of a profession as noble as nursing? The reason it is considered noble is because it involves taking care of people who are not in a position to take care of themselves on their own. The opportunity to be able to help people recover from their sickness, and cater to their needs is the best thing that one can ever do!

Although there are several other criteria and requirements for the nursing profession, one of the main requirement calls for possession of communication skills. This is because the main requirement for a nurse is to communicate with patients who are not well, be it physically or emotionally. 

Therefore, nurses need to be very good at their communication skills when it comes to interacting with co-workers or employees. Knowledge of the profession, patience and communication skills are the basic essentials when it comes to nursing.

Nursing is that one profession which requires training and lots of knowledge about the profession. It is only through proper training and learning, according to the nursing standards of practice, that one can become eligible to become a professional nurse.

While some training requirements can be taught, some need to be intrinsic. These requirements include, being soft spoken, patience, caring, kind and helpful. 

Therapeutic communication skills play a very important role in nursing. In fact, these form the basis of nursing education and training, and therefore help in keeping a good and healthy relationship between the patient and the nurse.

Therapeutic communication includes collecting information from the patient, understanding and responding in a considerate manner and educating the patient regarding the same.

An example would be, if the patient says, "I don't feel like eating". Then instead of responding that "you have to or else I'll tell the doctor", you can say, "Well, are you feeling nauseous as well? You can have a little food or juice and then you will feel better!" Sharing, being considerate and educating a person is what is required in therapeutic skills.

Building a strong interpersonal relationship with the patient is also something that is required by the nursing profession. The skills to understand and connect with the patient's feelings and concerns is a must.

The nurse must act like a confidante who advocates and caters to the needs of the patient. This requires a lot of understanding, caring and communication with the patients, making them realize that their feelings are valid and helping them how to overcome those issues.

It goes without saying that a good nurse should also have good teaching skills. This is because, a nurse is more than a caretaker for a patient. While a person is sick, he or she goes through a lot of physical and emotional discomfort which gives way to various doubts and questions in their minds.

A nurse is therefore required to clear all their questions and doubts with simplicity and clarity, which requires effective teaching skills.

Probing is also a very important aspect when it comes to the essential communication skills possessed by a nurse. Many times, the patient would feel sick, lonely or may be going through a physical or emotional state that he finds really hard to explain. This is where the need for effective probing skills come into place.

Listen to what the patient has to say very patiently, be a good listener. If there is something that you didn't understand, ask politely again and probe the patient in a concerned manner. This not only makes the bond stronger but also allows you to understand the health condition of the patient in a much better way.

The nurses today should also be equipped in electronic communication skills. This is because all the information and data of the patient needs to be kept and stored in an efficient manner so that they can be accessed instantly as and when needed.

Gone are the days when everything was written on sheets of papers. In this computerized age, it becomes very important for nurses to be computer literate.

If you are willing to take nursing as a profession, then we hope that this information gave you some guidance and knowledge about the areas of communication skills that you should focus on.

So follow your dream, work on your communication skills and knowledge ,and go out there and gain a lot of love, respect and blessings by helping people in need. All the best!