Question

Your elderly family member is hospitalized with pneumonia and upon entering the floor to visit ,you see the nurse standing outside with a medicine cart, texting on their phone. The nurse enters the room leaving the phone on the cart which proceeds to silently vibrate every few minutes. Every so often you can see the RN read the screen while retrieving medications from the cart. The nurse is very polite and discusses how busy it is with an increased patient workload due to the flu being so bad. He proceeds to explain that his son is home with the flu and keeps checking in to discuss his fever and how he feels. Your relative questions the medications she is receiving and the nurse replies "these are what the doctor ordered" while again looking at his phone screen before leaving. Your relative states she doesn't think she should be getting one of the pills she was given. 1) How has communication between patient and health care provider been negatively impacted? 2) What would have been a more appropriate way in which the nurse communicated that the patient did indeed receive the proper medication?

Answer 1

1. Researches and many studies found that poor coomunication is the main reason for the poor outcomes.Here, in this case, since the nurse doesnot provide a detailed explanation for the query asked by the relative the relative feels that there is a chance of discontinuty of care.She is worried about the patient safety too,as the nurse gives more attention to the text messages, even while giving medication. so, there is more cance of administration error. This is how the poor communication has negatively impacted.

2. Before, entering the room of the patient, the nurse should make sure that she should keep her phone out of vibartion and sound. Always better not to take the mobile into the patients room. And while administering medications the nurse should expalin in detail about each medications. This would give the patunet and faly memebersfeel that the patient is getting the irght treatment and right medications as per the order. Always be patient and listen carefully what the patient and family memebers are asking. Give proper detailed expalnation to them. This will enhance the quality of care.