Communication is crucial in many areas of life, including interpersonal relations between people. Some experts divide communication into four key steps, which are called encoding, medium of transmission, decoding, and feedback (Dimbleby and Burton, 2020). In the first step, people encode their ideas into an understandable message. This process is crucial as it allows people to express their ideas using words and phrases to ensure that people around them can interact. The second stage transmits the provided message and helps individuals realize if their communication partner needs further information. The visualization during this step is significant as people usually predict possible responses from others. In the decoding step, the receiver processes the information, and the brain interprets it from different perspectives. The feedback helps to support the chain of communication as the receiver responds to the sender. Without this step, it becomes impossible to continue communication and understand the receiver’s thoughts. The paper will use specific cases to show the key communication techniques and state the main strategies that allow workers in the veterinary area to communicate effectively.
It is crucial to train workers to communicate with clients and their coworkers to avoid medical mistakes in veterinary practice. Nurses should prioritize paying attention in this industry to make visitors and their pets feel more confident in describing the problem (Chapman et al., 2017). Patients become more loyal to the medical staff, and they become less afraid to leave their dogs and cats with unknown people. Listening is also crucial to make clients more relaxed and ensure they can receive the needed help. By avoiding the use of gadgets and making eye contact, this requirement can be completed. Moreover, providing feedback and possible outcomes may help workers and their patients to see the potential changes and continue communicating to record the progress of treatments.
Communication includes many strategies that can build positive interpersonal relations. For instance, by using body language, people can see how their partners are integrated into the communicational process (Sibiya, 2018). When people show many body movements, others can become more interested in the topic, and their level of understanding may increase significantly. It is also important for workers to stay competitive and avoid topics that might touch on personal feelings. For example, discrimination related to coworkers and clients might break a positive connection between people, and, in the case of the veterinary industry, there might be a lack of trust from clients.
Verbal and non-verbal communication can be considered important in this concept. With the development of digital technologies, many areas of life started to be operated through online platforms. This change has introduced non-verbal communication, allowing workers in the veterinary industry to provide clients and their pets with structured feedback and information regarding health statuses (Sibiya, 2018). Moreover, the introduction of this type of communication made professionals in this area good listeners, as patients have a chance to post their questions online without having a personal chat. Also, it becomes easier to have spare time to think about the answer or response without being in a rush while having an appointment with limited time.
A new worker in the veterinary healthcare center has just graduated from the university and does not have enough experience to treat animals. Experienced workers should teach them to do basic documentary tasks, but the trainee wants to start helping pets from the first day. Both experienced workers and trainees should listen to the preferences of every side and find a compromise by using structured discussion where everyone is integrated into the communicational process. Another example that can happen in real life is a conflict between a worker and a client. For example, a cat needs castration, but the owner does not want to leave the operating room. In this case, the use of the body language provided by healthcare workers should make the owner less stressed, and supportive communication should help avoid the conflict that might slow down the process of the procedure.
References
Chapman, J. L., Porsch, L., and Vidaurre, R. (2017). Three methods for integration of environmental risk into the benefit-risk assessment of veterinary medicinal products. Science of The Total Environment, 605, 692-701.
Dimbleby, R., and Burton, G. (2020). More than words. Routledge.
Sibiya, M. N. (2018). Effective communication in nursing. In Ulutasdemir, N. (Eds.), Nursing (pp. 19-35). Books on Demand.