Effective Communication In Nursing

Introduction:

A world of opportunity awaits the nursing profession willing take on managerial responsibility. Nurse managers guide and lead frontline nurses while contributing to organisational success. They work together to provide the shared goals of efficiency, common care goals and excellence in clinical care, education and research. Managers outline the expectations for excellence in nursing thus optimizing quality and a ‘just culture’, which balances the need for open disclosure with a quality learning environment and culture (Boysen, 2013). Nurse managers connect frontline staff and middle-upper management, ensuring communication is maintained. Therefore, nurse managers can influence the standard of care provided to patients and

Although effective communication can be challenging due to professional dynamics, the nurse manager needs to ensure all staff nurses on the team are able to effectively communicate with other healthcare professionals (Dingley, 2008). They can do so by ensuring formal communication protocols are integrated into clinical practice especially when caring for a deteriorating patient. The nurse manager must be informed when the total NEWS score is two. The value of such information should be recognised. Information about a deteriorating patient should be acted on in a timely manner with communication as per the escalation protocol (Department of Health, 2013). The quality of the communication among the clinicians is a determinant of positive patient outcomes. The ISBAR communication tool (Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation) is a useful tool to assist in communicating concerns, or calling for help (HSE, 2015). It allows the nurse to communicate the whole patient picture to allow the doctor to interpret the scenario and suggest the next steps. It strongly improves the clarity and content of the communication and the significant risk associated with unclear communication between clinicians. The nurse manager can use the ISBAR method to ensure effective clinical communication which will provide high quality and safe patient care (Finnigan,

Nurse managers have a pivotal role of empowering, facilitating and providing autonomy for nurses to engage with EBP. This ensures all the team can keep abreast with the latest evidence for their cohort of patients, increasing the quality of care provided (Wilkinson, Nutley and Davies, 2011). Nurse managers are responsible for the professional practice environment where nurses provide care and are ideally positioned to promote the translation of research evidence into clinical practice. The evidence generated from quality research can help build the research- practice gap, meaning the frontline nurses will be using the most recent evidence to care for patients, improving the quality of care provided to them and their families (Gifford, 2007). Nurse managers need to be supported in implementing EBP. Resources already in place in hospitals such as; clinical facilitators, nurse practice development units and centres of nurse education can be utilised. Maintenance of standards of care is a crucial role of the nurse manager and EBP is one such way of influencing standards of care (Flood,