Communication Barriers In Healthcare

Communication and Barriers

Introduction

Most positions of employment now available usually require a high amount, or at least some basic skills in communication. Healthcare workers are required to build a high level of trust with both the people they work alongside and also those they care for, for this trust to build they require a high quality level of communication. Multidisciplinary teams need to trust the communicational input of their colleagues in order for them to work alongside each other in a professional, effective and safe manner. The patient needs to be able to trust the care they are receiving from the healthcare provider; is in their own best interest and not fear they will be harmed by the healthcare provider, the best way to

Effective communication is when a person sends a clear message or directive through one of the modes of communication, another person receives this message and responds or acts on the message received, appropriately.

Types of Communication

Each of the 2 types of communication branch out to form separate modes of that particular type which can in turn lead to different modes of interpretation. For instance, the first type of communication is that of verbal, this is then divided into oral and written.

Oral communication is that of spoken word, either face to face, via a radio or transmitter, by telephone, through video or television and also VoIP, which is the term for an internet voice call.

Written communication can be that of either print, electronically transmitted such as a text or email or indeed, handwritten.

Both methods of verbal communication have advantages and disadvantages. Something that is written depending on how clear it is written could be misinterpreted to mean something else other than what it set out to say. Something that is spoken however could also be misinterpreted depending on how it is said and sometimes once it is said, it cannot be undone. Written communication can be reviewed and changed over time if necessary whereas spoken communication can appear more

If someone were to invade your personal space you could consider this threatening, if they won’t come close enough to have an effective conversation you could interpret this as them being fearful. Someone grimacing or huddling themselves into a ball could indicate pain. Therefore, non verbal communication is just as important as what is being said vocally, vocals tell you what they are saying non verbal can tell you what they are feeling through their facial expression, body posture or simply the tone of their voice.. Non verbal communication can be interpreted not just by the person’s physical self but also their surroundings, their environment (noteDesk.com