Enhancing communication and rapport-building

Providing safe, quality care requires effective communication between you, your co-workers, and your clients. Communication is the process where information is exchanged between a sender and a receiver.

Now, communication can be verbal or nonverbal. Verbal communication uses language to deliver information and that could be written or spoken.

Another type of verbal communication is sign language, which involves the use of hand and body gestures or signs that represent specific letters and words.

On the other hand, nonverbal communication uses facial expressions, tone of voice, and body movements and gestures to convey a message.

This type of communication tends to be more subtle, so you need to be alert to your clients’ nonverbal behaviors. For example, a client’s facial expressions or strained voice may indicate that they’re in pain even when they do not express pain verbally.Alright, communication is a two-way process between a sender and a receiver and has four basic parts.

First, the sender creates a message that contains the information they want to deliver to another person. The information should be relevant, organized, concise, and clear.

Remember to avoid medical jargon when talking to clients and their family members. For example, instead of saying to your client, "Please void now, so I can ambulate you,” saying, "I'll help you to the bathroom, so you can use the toilet before we go for a walk," will send a clearer message.

Second, the sender delivers the information to the receiver, which could be directly face-to-face or indirectly through memos, emails, and telephone calls.

Face-to-face communication allows for non-verbal cues to take place, while indirect methods of communication don't. Whether communicating directly or indirectly, use simple and common words instead of the more complex ones and make sure to speak clearly and at an appropriate volume.

If the information is written, make sure your spelling is accurate and your handwriting can be easily read. The third part of communication occurs when the receiver receives the information.

The receiver should be physically and mentally able to do that. For example, a client who is deaf wouldn’t be able to hear you teaching them about their medication; in this case, you will need assistance from someone who speaks sign language to help communicate with the client.

If your client needs a hearing aid or glasses, make sure these are available to help them receive the information. Also, if a client speaks a language other than yours, you will need an interpreter to translate your teaching.

The fourth part of communication is the feedback, which the receiver provides to the sender and indicates whether the information was clearly and effectively delivered or not.

If the receiver doesn’t give feedback, it’s then the responsibility of the sender to ask for it. Okay, practicing good communication makes your clients feel cared for and important and, at the same time, helps build relationships with your co-workers.

There are a few skills that you can learn to enhance your communication with your clients and co-workers. Active listening involves giving your full attention to what others say without interrupting them, so you can fully absorb what they are saying.

When communicating with your clients or co-workers, be aware of your body language and non-verbal cues. Examples of non-verbal cues that show that you are interested in what the client says include facing the client; nodding; making vocal sounds occasionally, like, “Hmm” or, “Uh-huh”; and using a calm tone of voice.

On the other hand, avoid assuming a posture that makes you look in a hurry or bored, like looking at your watch too frequently or using a hurried tone of voice.

Another important thing you can do is paraphrasing what the client says, which means you reflect back what they said using your own words.

For example, if a client says, “I’m sad because I couldn’t attend my son’s wedding,” you can paraphrase their words in another way and say, “So, I understand you’re upset about not being able to attend your son’s wedding?” This shows that client that you’re actively listening to them and that you understand their message.

Another communication skill that you can use is asking the client open-ended questions that encourage them to talk and give more details.

For example, if you want to know if your client is happy with their breakfast, when asking them, “Did you like your breakfast today?” your client will likely reply with only, “Yes” or, “No.” However, if you ask them, “How was your breakfast today?” this may encourage them to elaborate more about their experience with the breakfast: what they liked and what they didn’t.

Another essential communication skill is clarifying, or checking whether you’ve understood what the client means correctly.

This can be done by asking them to repeat or restate something confusing or unclear. For example, you could say, “I’m not sure I understand exactly what you mean when you said you’re not feeling like yourself today.” Okay, sometimes, the best way to show care and concern about your client is silence.

This is especially true when the client is sad or crying. In this case, remaining silent for a while lets the client express their emotions and know that you’re not rushing them.

A comforting pat on the client’s shoulder or hands in these situations can help, too.Alright, there are a few behaviors that you should avoid because they can negatively affect your communication with your clients and co-workers.

One of them is not listening carefully when others talk to you, which may result in ignoring the client’s needs and complaints.

Being judgmental can also block effective communication, and that’s when you do not show respect for what your clients are saying.

Also, assuming that others know what you think is another block to communication. An example of this is assuming your co-workers should know why you are in a hurry or that have already taken a client's vital signs, so they don't have to.To avoid this communication block, be sure to always keep your co-workers informed and remember that they can't read your mind.

Alright, when communicating with others, you need to be respectful, pleasant, and use professional language. Examples of professional language include asking the client how they would like to be addressed and always addressing them by the name they prefer.

In general, address clients by using “Miss”, “Mrs.”, “Ms.”, or “Mr.” followed by their last name. Don’t address them by their first name unless they specifically ask you to do that.

Say, “Please,” whenever you ask a request and say, “Thank you,” whenever you get any help from someone. Being professional also includes complimenting and praising others for any good thing they do; a nice word can make others’ day!

On the other hand, unprofessional language includes any inappropriate language or acts that may offend clients, their families, or your co-workers.

Examples include swearing or using abusive language, speaking loudly or in an inappropriate tone, and shouting or yelling.

Alright, throughout your career, you’ll encounter some behavioral issues by clients and their families who may be struggling with adjusting to an illness or disability.

A common example of such issues is anger, which could be expressed verbally in various ways, like shouting, raised voices or rapid speech.

Some clients may express anger in a nonverbal manner by being silent, refusing to answer your questions, or being uncooperative with you.

Anger can also cause aggressive behavior, which may include swearing, kicking, hitting, or even biting. Some clients may have a demanding behavior, where they criticize everything others do and nothing seems to please them.

Other clients may have a self-centered behavior, where they only care about their own needs and become frustrated if their needs are not met in the way and the time they want.

Withdrawal is another behavior that you may encounter, where the client prefers to be alone and avoids contact with others.

This could be a symptom of a physical illness or a psychological illness, like depression. Other clients are just normally non-social so make sure to compare that with their usual behavior.

Finally, some clients may show inappropriate sexual behaviors, like touching others inappropriately, taking their own clothes off, or masturbating in public.

Now, these behavioral issues could be a symptom of a disease that affects the client’s mental status, a side effect of a medication, or a response to their pain or fear of death.

In other cases, behavioral issues are just the way those clients or their families approach life and others around them in general.

As a nursing assistant, you need to deal with these behaviors professionally. Stay calm and don’t take it personally.

Don’t yell at the person or insult them; instead, think about how you would want to be treated in a similar situation and listen to their concerns and answer their questions clearly.

Don't avoid them because you find interacting with them unpleasant; this will make things worse! If the client is angry, keep silent, just listen, and don’t argue with them.

If the client shows an aggressive behavior, ensure you and others are safe and report it immediately to the nurse. Now, sometimes you’ll be asked to answer phone calls in your healthcare facility.

Just like face-to-face communication, when talking to a person over the phone, you need to be polite, professional, and use good communication skills.

Answer the phone as soon as it rings and before the fourth ring. Make sure that your voice doesn't seem like you’re in a hurry.

Once you answer the phone, greet the caller and identify yourself by mentioning your name, title, and the unit you’re working in.

It’s important that you don’t release any confidential information about your clients over the phone, even to their family members.

If the caller asks for such confidential information, refer the call to the nurse. Sometimes, you’ll need to ask for their permission to put them on hold but don’t make them wait for too long.

If you need a long time before returning to the caller, let them know and ask them if they prefer to stay on hold or call back later.

After answering the caller’s inquiry, thank them and end the call politely. Alright, as a quick recap… Communication is the exchange of information between a sender and a receiver.

It can be verbal in which case it involves the use of letters and words, or non-verbal through the use of facial expression, tone of voice, and body language and gestures.

Communication starts when the sender creates the message and sends it to the receiver in an organized, clear, and concise manner.

After the receiver gets the information, feedback is provided to the sender to confirm that the message was delivered and understood.

To communicate effectively with others, make sure to learn and use communications skills, like active listening, proper use of body language, paraphrasing, and asking clients open-ended questions to encourage them to share more information.

Effective communication also involves dealing appropriately with behavioral issues of clients and their families. Always be professional and calm and don’t insult, yell at, or argue with others.