Question

Writing and speaking in the medical field both demand attention to specific requirements and techniques. In 2-3 pages, identify and describe at least 6 characteristics of healthcare communication; give a real or hypothetical example of each being employed and explain why each is critically important. You may format this as a numbered list. Each item should be a single, brief paragraph.

Answer 1

6 characteristics of healthcare communication-

1.Effective and timely communication- There are two pieces of effective communication. First, you need effective communication among team members when the patient in the office. It has been observed the most patients, when they come to their doctor's office, will tell their most pressing concern to only one member of the team. Some patients will tell it to the doctor, some to nurse, but they rarely repeat it. So there must be a effective communication in team members. For example- An elderly patient may tell nurse that he is fine but may tell his concern to physician.

2.An optimistic, can do attitude- There's an old saying that “Nothing shares better than a bad mood.” Often, it's the leaders in an organization who set the mood. In a medical practice, this responsibility usually falls to the doctors. So, for example, if a physician rushes into the office late after a stressful hospital meeting or a long night of being on call, doesn't say hello to staff, and starts issuing orders, that physician has just set a certain tone for the day. A better approach would be to pause, take a deep breath, project an optimistic attitude, and greet your staff by name when you arrive in the morning. This may sound like a little thing, but it will ripple throughout your practice.

3.Understandable- A health care professional communication must be understandable easily even to a illiterate person. For example if a patient from a village came and is illiterate and his patient is not in a good condition and nurses are not able to make him understand about the condition of his patient so in this condition doctor must come forward and must make him understand about his patient condition.

Communication between the medical team must be such that they understand each other even in worse to worse condition.

4. Mutual Respect- There must be a mutual respect among the team member of a health care team. If you point out one's failure and talk about them behind their back it means you don't respect them . There must be a mutual respect and support for each other in a team. Physician or doctor must lead the way and must be a role model for other.

Ther must a mutual respect between patient and healthcare workers . It is important so that patinpa believe in healthcare workers and give them way to do their work on patient.

5.Actionable- A healthcare team and leader of healthcare must be quick in taking actions. Actions must be visible in his way of communication. Physician must also guide team to take quick actions as their may be some emergency. Actions must speak louder than words.

Physician must take the responsibility of the actions of team and give them way to do their job and support them in quick actions.

6. Credible- Healthcare professional look credible through his communication. It is a very important characteristic of a healthcare communication as it may work as a placebo for the patients and if a physician is credible then his whole team will work under his guidance and will be high in confidence. For example if a critical case comes patient attendent must be convinced that his patient will be fine and he is in safe hands and physician's team must believe that their leader will lead the way for them.