Introduction
Communication in a hospital setting is a highly intricate and delicate process, which requires a collaborative effort from each party. The stakeholders in the given environment are mainly patients, medical professionals, and nursing professionals as well as administrators. The latter three comprise the hospital unit, which needs to communicate with a patient. Through the analysis of recent literature on the topic, three key problems were identified, which are information insufficiency on patient guidance provided by doctors, social media usage by hospitals for patients, and the lack of in-depth communication between nurses and patients. The potential resolutions for the issue are a more attentive approach to patent feedback in regards to social media as well as increased information sharing between doctors and nursing staff.
Key Problems
Doctors and Nurses
The first major communication issue can be found in interactions between doctors and nurses, where the former provided insufficient information for guiding patient care to the latter. It is stated that nurses, as well as administrators and managers, tend to receive not enough information for guiding the patient care process, but the problem is less prominent if these individuals have access to electronic health records (EHR) of the patients (Jones et al., 2019). In other words, after the doctors fully conduct the assessment, the guidance on patient care is predominantly provided to nurses, and the nursing staff is unable to provide proper care due to the lack of sufficient information on the care protocol. It is possible that the problem is mainly caused by ineffective management of information flow between these parties because some hospitals are still adherent to paper-based reports instead of electronic ones.
Hospitals and Patients
The second communication problem primarily takes place between hospitals and patients, despite the former group’s measure to utilize social media as means of delivering information to the latter group. It is stated: “the results reveal that the general public appreciates hospitals’ communication potential through social media, although they are generally unaware of how it works. The group says that, apart from the lack of interaction, they find it hard to understand certain messages, and some publications give a biased picture” (Heras-Pedrosa et al., 2020, p. 1). In other words, the hospitals utilize social media platforms ineffectively, where patients are still left confused and uniformed.
Nurses and Patients
The third major problem in in-hospital communication is the lack of in-depth interactions between patients and nurses, where the barriers are imposed on the latter group. It is stated: “the need to maintain control over care, reluctance to engage in in‐depth conversations, fear of being seen as unprofessional by patients, fear of repercussions from physicians, the lack of insight in the meaning of patient participation and the lack of appreciation of the importance of patient participation appeared to be majors barriers” (Theys et al., 2019, p. 1945). In other words, hospitals do not encourage the nursing staff to be more interactive and communicative with patients, where barriers, such as lack of control, reluctance, and fear of unprofessionalism, are imposed.
Potential Resolutions
Resolution: Doctors and Nurses
The resolution of communication issues between doctors and nurses can be eliminated or reduced through the thorough integration of electronic health records. It is stated that nurses, quality assurance managers, administrators, and managers were less likely to complain that doctors provided insufficient information on patient guidance if patients had electronic health records (Jones et al., 2019). In other words, it is important for hospitals to implement an EHR system and require doctors to fill out the patient data in detail in order to ensure that the quality of care is the highest. It is critical for nurses to have sufficient information on patient guidance because a nurse is responsible for many vital procedures, that is, the work of a nurse in the department is an important component in the treatment and care of patients.
The nursing staff bears a major responsibility not only for the treatment process and patients but also for the well-coordinated work of the department, of all its employees. A caring, sensitive, attentive attitude of a nurse to patients accompanied by a professional approach ensures that these efforts give outstanding results in the care and treatment of patients with diseases. In addition, the nurse needs knowledge about the psychology of the patient and the peculiarities of communication with patients. Thus, a psychiatric nurse does not replace a doctor, as he or she works with patients in her own way, exerting a psychological effect on them, therefore, the communicative incompetence of a nurse can disrupt the diagnostic and treatment process and not lead to the desired results.
Resolution: Hospitals and Patients
The communication problem between patients and hospitals is the result of improper social media utilization. It can be resolved by making hospitals responsive to the feedback of the patients since they are the ones who are aware of the information needed for them. It is stated that in order to improve the communication process between these two parties, patients’ perspective needs to be taken into account (Heras-Pedrosa et al., 2020). In other words, the social media pages of the hospitals need to actively analyze the relevant comment sections and conduct online surveys in order to identify the core needs of their patients.
Effective communication between the hospital or the doctor and the patient, including the criteria for choosing a certain type of communication, such as informational, interpretive, deliberative, and paternalistic, as well as the patient’s ability to perceive information, determines the success of the entire treatment process. The modern patient is not content with the traditionally passive role but shows a desire for active communication, wanting to be heard and understood by the doctor. In this regard, it is fundamentally important for the doctor to have the skills to correctly construct a conversation with the patient aimed at resolving the treatment situation without infringing upon the hopes and expectations of the patient. Medical discourse has pronounced design specifics, significantly different from other types of institutional discourses. The possibilities of understanding and interpreting statements in the space of medical discourse have not only semantic but also ethical limitations. When seeking help from a hospital, a patient is forced to present complaints in detail, and share the most intimate information, counting on mutual understanding and professional support from the hospital.
Resolution: Nurses and Patients
The communication problem between nurses and patients is rooted in the fact that there are imposed barriers of the former group. It is important to remove the limiting factors and encourage the nursing personnel to be more interactive with patients as well as provide in-depth conversations. It is stated that such a problem can be eliminated by improving coordination between various departments in a hospital (Lame et al., 2016). In other words, managers need to ensure that fear of repercussions, fear of unprofessionalism, and lack of insight are removed by giving more professional freedom to the nursing personnel, where they are able to allocate more time for individual patients without these limiters.
The relationship of nurses with patients during working hours is professional in nature, and certain rules, principles, and norms need to be maintained. However, the ability to communicate with patients and their families, colleagues, and members of a multi-disciplinary team is an essential part of the work. Without this, the efforts of medical workers will remain ineffective since it is in the process of communication that important information is exchanged, and relations of mutual understanding and partnership are created. The patient, for his part, always tries to find contact with professionals from whom he or she expects knowledge, involvement, and support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are an array of communication problems in a hospital setting, which can affect all parties involved. The main three issues are the lack of in-depth communication between nurses and patients, the lack of responsiveness to feedback on social media by hospitals in regard to patients, and information insufficiency on patient guidance provided by doctors to nurses. The communication issue between doctors and nurses can be eliminated through the integration of EHR. The social media-based barrier can be removed by making hospitals interested in patient feedback through comments analysis and surveys. The lack of in-depth interaction between the nursing staff and patients can be resolved by reducing the barriers of fear and reluctance through managerial changes.
References
Heras-Pedrosa, C. D. L., Rando-Cueto, D., Jambrino-Maldonado, C., & Paniagua-Rojano, F. J. (2020). Analysis and study of hospital communication via social media from the patient perspective. Cogent Social Sciences, 6(1), 1-16.
Jones, C. D., Jones, J., Bowles, K. H., Flynn, L., Masoudi, F. A., Coleman, E. A., Levy, C., & Boxer, R. S. (2019). Quality of hospital communication and patient preparation for home health care: Results from a statewide survey of home health care nurses and staff. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 20(4), 487-491.
Lame, G., Jouini, O., Cardinal, J. S.-L., Carvalho, M., Tournigand, C., & Wolkenstein, P. (2016). Patient-hospital communication: A platform to improve outpatient chemotherapy. 2016 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC), 2099-2110. Web.
Theys, S., Lust, E., Heinen, M., Verhaeghe, S., Beeckman, D., Eeckloo, K., Malfait, S., & Van Hecke, A. (2019). Barriers and enablers for the implementation of a hospital communication tool for patient participation: a qualitative study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 29(11-12), 1945-1956. Web.