Please use the references below
The purpose of this essay is to assess your understanding of the content contained within Themes 1, 2 and 3. Constructing this essay allows you to demonstrate your understanding of the importance of therapeutic communication when providing person-centered care, across the lifespan.
Assessment:
With reference to contemporary literature, construct an essay which analyses the impact of therapeutic communication on the health outcomes and provision of safe, high-quality, person- centred care for individuals and their families within your clinical specialty.
Agency. https://conversation.digitalhealth.gov.au/framework-for-action
The purpose of this essay is to assess your understanding of the content contained within Themes 1,2 and 3. Constructing this essay allows you to demonstrate your understanding of the importance of therapeutic communication when providing person-centred care, across the lifespan.
Therefore, the ideal layout is as follows:
1. Introduction- 250 words- give your essay some context by for example introducing your clinical specialty and framing the essay with reference to your specialty practice standards (or the NMBA Standards), the Codes of Conduct and Ethics for nurses. Provide a general overview of all you plan to discuss and your major conclusions. Please don\’t write in the first person. This is a postgraduate essay- therefore third person perspective is required. This can be achieved by saying- for example…\”Nurses are required to… when engaging with people requiring cancer care, specialist cancer nurses establish and maintain therapeutic relationships by…..People at the end of life benefit from the provision of therapeutic communication which is delivered using strategies such as…..\” So the idea is to contextualise to your specialty area, without speaking in the first person
2. Body-
Analyse the impact of therapeutic communication on health outcomes- approx 500 words.
Analyse the impact of therapeutic communication on the provision of high-quality, person- centred care for individuals and their families- approx 500 words.
Contextualise to your clinical specialty- What strategies are required? What is special/different about your patient population (e.g., age, demographics, cognitive abilities etc)? approx 500 words. Remember- third person please!
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Don\’t forget to frame your essay with reference to the nursing standards
3. Conclusion- 250 words- your conclusion provides a summary of all you have discussed, the implications for nurses working in your specialty area and any areas requiring further research.
4. Reference list- APA 7th style please
Theme 1
1.1: Price-Dowd, C. (2018). Communication is a two-way street. British Journal of Nursing, 27(3),171. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2018.27.3.171
1.2: Warnecke, E. (2014). The art of communication. Australian Family Physician,43 (3),156-158. PMID: 24600681
Theme 2
Required readings:
2.1: Griffiths, J. (2017). Person-centred communication for emotional support in district nursing: SAGE and THYME model. British Journal of Community Nursing, 22(12), 593-597. https://doi.org/ 10.12968/bjcn.2017.22.12.593
2.2: Clisset, P., Porock, D., Harwood, R.H. & Gladman, J.R.F. (2013). The challenges of achieving person-centred care in acute hospitals: A qualitative study of people with dementia and their families. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 50(11),1495-1503.
2.3: Coyne, I. (2015). Families and health-care professionals’ perspectives and expectations of family-centred care: Hidden expectations and unclear roles. Health Expectations,18(5),796-808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2013.03.001
2.4: McGillion, M., Pine, J.M., Herbert, J.S. & Matthews, D. (2017). A randomised controlled trial to test the effect of promoting caregiver contingent talk on language development in infants from diverse socioeconomic status backgrounds. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(10),1122-1131. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12725
2.5: Costa, E.A., Day, L., Caverly, C., Mellion, N., Ouellette, M. & Ottley, S.W. (2019). Parent-child interaction therapy as a behaviour and spoken language intervention for young children with hearing loss. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 50(1), 34-52. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-18-0054
2.6: Hampton, L.H. & Kaiser, A.P. (2016). Intervention effects on spoken-language outcomes for children with autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 60(5),444-463. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12283
2.7: Sharkey, S., Lloyd, C., Tomlinson, R., Thomas, E., Martin, A., Logan, S. & Morris, C. (2016). Communicating with disabled children when inpatients: Barriers and facilitators identified by parents and professionals in a qualitative study. Health Expectations,19(3), 738-750. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5055242/?report=classic
2.8: Berg, T., Winterton, R., Petersen, M. & Warburton, J. (2017). \’Although we are isolated, we’re not really isolated\’: The value of information and communication technology for older people in rural Australia. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 36(4), 313-317. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12449
Theme 3
Required readings:
3.1: Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC). (2017a). Communicating for safety (Standard 6, pp. 47-54). National safety and quality health service standards (2nd ed.). https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/publications-and-resources/resource-library/national-safety-and-quality-health-service-standards-second-edition
3.2: Pokojova, R. & Bartlova, S. (2018). Effective communication and sharing information at clinical handovers. Central European Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 9(4), 947-955. https://doi.org/ 10.15452/CEJNM.2018.09.0028
3.3: Gill, F.J., Leslie, G.D. & Marshall, A.P. (2016). The impact of implementation of family-initiated escalation of care for the deteriorating patient in hospital: A systematic review. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing,13(4), 303-313. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12168
3.4: Bodenheimer, T. (2018). Teach-back: A simple technique to enhance patients’ understanding. Family Practice Management, July/August 2018, pp. 20-22. PMID: 29989780
3.5: Last, R. (2015). Communicating with patients with long-term conditions. Practice Nursing, 26(3),147-150. https://doi.org/10.12968/pnur.2015.26.3.147
3.6: Ahluwalia, S.C., Schreibeis-Baum, H., Prendergast, T.J. & Reinke, L.F. (2016) Nurses as intermediaries: How critical care nurses perceive their role in family meetings. American Journal of Critical Care, 25(1),33-38. https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2016653
3.7: Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA).(2018). Action 5:Enhanced models of care. In Australia’s National Digital Health Strategy, Framework for Action: How Australia will deliver the benefits of digitally enabled health and care (v1.0, pp. 55-63,). Australian Government, Australian Digital Health
Effective Communication in Palliative Care
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliations
Effective Communication in Palliative Care
Nurses are required to engage in effective communication with their patients in order to build strong therapeutic relationships that can generate positive health outcomes. When engaging with patients with terminal illnesses, palliative care nurses must establish and maintain positive therapeutic relationships by communicating effectively with their patients (Clisset et al., 2013; Schroeder & Lorenz, 2018). People at the end-of-life benefit from the provision of therapeutic communication which is delivered using strategies such as the teach-back technique (Bodenheimer, 2018), family-initiated calls (Gill et al., 2016), taking particular patients’ conditions into consideration during communication (Pokojova & Bartlova, 2018), and the use of family meetings with focus groups (Ahluwalia et al., 2016). In the Australian context, Palliative Care Australia defines palliative care as that type of care that is central to the needs of either an individual patient or a family suffering from an advanced disease with little or no prospect of cure and that which is provided with the aim of optimizing the quality of life (Palliative Care Australia Limited, 2022). National Palliative Care Standards identify a number of elements that make palliative care effective. For example, the palliative care nurse should utilize a family-centered or a patient-centered approach that applies effective communication in engaging patients and families in shared decision-making (Palliative Care Australia Limited, 2022). The Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia requires nurses to communicate with patients in a language that they can easily understand as this enables them to develop positive therapeutic relationships in the course of a health care encounter (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2005). The purpose of this essay is to analyze the impact of therapeutic communication on the health outcomes and provision of safe, high-quality, person-centered care for individuals and their families within palliative care nursing.
The Impacts of Therapeutic Communication on Health Outcomes
Nurses need to understand how therapeutic communication impacts health outcomes. According to Price-Dowd (2018), good communication between the patient and his or her healthcare provider makes a difference in the lives of patients and their families. It gives patients an opportunity to express their concerns to their healthcare providers. Similarly, therapeutic communication allows the healthcare provider to form a strong care relationship which is required for the development of a good care plan. During therapeutic communication, it is the responsibility of the healthcare provider to present the message in a manner that will provide the patient with the greatest opportunities (Warnecke, 2014). This can be achieved by considering and utilizing both verbal and non-verbal communication. For example, the nurse can utilize non-verbal communication such as body language to complement verbal communication. Therefore, therapeutic communication in which the healthcare provider incorporates both verbal and non-verbal approaches enables patients to effectively understand the message, thereby impacting positively on their health outcomes.
Therapeutic communication promotes diagnostic accuracy, enhances adherence to the treatment regimen, and increases patient satisfaction. The provider usually conducts an interview with the patient when collecting medication history at the initial point of care in order to make an accurate diagnosis. Engaging in therapeutic communication enables the clinician to create an environment in which the patient can easily tell his or her story. The provider utilizes the opportunity to collect essential information to avoid compromising diagnostic accuracy (Institute for Healthcare Communication, 2022). Additionally, therapeutic communication influences the patient to engage in behaviors that conform to the treatment recommendations offered by the healthcare provider. Adherence speeds up recovery thereby enabling the patient to achieve positive health outcomes. It is also important to note that therapeutic communication increases patient satisfaction with the care that is received from the healthcare provider. For example, it enables the patient to express his or her concerns to the healthcare provider, the provider is able to understand the patients’ needs and provide viable recommendations, and it empowers the patient to engage in shared decision-making with the provider. Again, therapeutic communication enhances patient satisfaction by giving the patient an opportunity to obtain continuing care planned by the same healthcare provider (Institute for Healthcare Communication, 2022). Therefore, the nurse is charged with the responsibility of mastering the art of communication and being able to utilize it in a manner that promotes diagnostic accuracy, enhances adherence to the treatment regimen, and increases patient satisfaction.
Healthcare providers are able to prevent adverse events and reduce the possibility of malpractice risk. Adverse events usually occur due to human errors. When members of the healthcare team communicate effectively with their patients, they are able to avoid medical errors thereby maximizing patient safety (Institute for Healthcare Communication, 2022). Besides, in most instances, a breakdown in communication usually results in malpractice. For example, the nurse can easily administer an excess dose of a drug in a scenario where he or she did not inform the patient about the exact dose that was to be administered (Institute for Healthcare Communication, 2022). Nurses should understand that engaging in therapeutic communication with the patient is key to the protection of patient safety and helps to minimize malpractice risk.
The Impact of Therapeutic Communication on the Provision of High-quality, Person-Centred care for Individuals and their Families
The goal of nursing is to provide high-quality care to patients. This type of care must be centered on the individual needs of patients and their families. Therapeutic communication has been linked with the provision of high-quality and person-centered care for sick patients and their families (Griffiths, 2017). According to Griffiths et al. (2017), it is important to train healthcare providers to learn the skills and knowledge of engaging in effective conversations with their patients. Patient-centered evidence-based communication enables nurses to structure their conversations with the patient in order to understand his or her concerns. Additionally, person-centered therapeutic communication empowers patients to work closely with their healthcare providers to find solutions for their problems (Griffiths et al., 2017). Notably, patients receive high-quality care when their healthcare providers implement interventions that satisfactorily addressed their health problems.
People with different types of illnesses, especially those with chronic conditions need high-quality and patient-centered communication to be able to achieve a good quality of life. As Clisset et al. (2013) point out, patient-centered communication is the ideal healthcare delivery approach for patients with long-term conditions such as dementia. According to the authors, caring for patients with long-term conditions in acute care settings is characterized by numerous challenges. The reason is that some of the conditions such as dementia require the nurse to establish close therapeutic relationships with patients and families in order to understand and address their needs at the individual level. Additionally, standard 2 of registered nurse standards requires nurses to engage in good therapeutic relationships with their patients with mutual trust and respect (NMBA, 2022). Therefore, implementation of the principles of person-centered care such as engaging in therapeutic communication helps to sustain personhood thereby enabling the healthcare professional to provide care that produces comfort (Clisset et al., 2013; Hampton & Kaiser, 2016). Healthcare providers, especially nurses, play a key role in ensuring that they engage their patients in therapeutic communication in order to provide high-quality and patient-centered care.
Therapeutic communication allows patients and their families to take part in the development of individualized care plans which enhances the provision of high-quality and patient-centered care. Standard 5 of the registered nurse standards requires nurses to communicate effectively with their patients and engage them in the development of care plans (NMBA, 2022). Involving patients and families in effective therapeutic communication during the healthcare delivery process encourages them to work closely with their healthcare providers to address their own needs (Coyne, 2015). Coyne (2015) conducted a study to understand the expectations of family-centered care from healthcare professionals’ perspectives. From the study, the expectations of patient-centered care include four elements namely; meeting patients’ needs, relying on the support provided by family members, performing roles effectively, and addressing possible barriers to family-centered care. By engaging in therapeutic communication, healthcare providers are able to provide care that meets patients’ needs, seek support from patients and their family members, and implement interventions that generate positive health outcomes for patients.
Communication Strategies Required for Palliative Care
People at the end of life benefit greatly from the provision of therapeutic communication. Therefore, palliative care nurses should be conversant with specific communication strategies that work best for patients with terminal illnesses (Bodenheimer, 2018). For instance, therapeutic communication that is delivered through the teach-back technique enables the nurse to know the patient’s ability to implement the recommended therapeutic interventions. According to Bodenheimer (2018), patients at their end of life can benefit greatly from therapeutic recommendations that they easily understand and implement. For patients with cognitive impairment, healthcare providers should offer recommendations that family members and caregivers can comfortably implement. The teach-back communication approach is a technique in which the healthcare provider evaluates the patient’s ability to understand the therapeutic recommendations offered. Standard 4 of the registered nurse standards requires nurses to systematically and comprehensively assess patients in order to identify their needs at the individual level (NMBA, 2022). In the teach-back technique, the provider asks patients and their families to explain the recommendations repeatedly until he or she will be satisfied that they can implement them on their own with minimum support (Bodenheimer, 2018).
Family-initiated calls that consider individual patient needs are beneficial approaches to therapeutic communication for patients in their end-of-life conditions. According to Gill et al. (2016), caring for patients with severe illnesses requires the nurse to be in a position to recognize when their patients’ conditions are improving as well as when they are deteriorating. Prompt response and action, through escalation of patient care, can help to improve the quality of life for a deteriorating patient. Therapeutic communication that is offered through family or patient-initiated calls promotes patient care especially thereby generating quality outcomes for patients who need palliative care (Gill et al., 2016). According to Pokojova and Bartlova (2018), nurses should put individual patients’ needs into consideration during therapeutic communication with patients, especially when making clinical handovers. This ensures that nurses share crucial information that can be used to provide continued care to patients in their end of life.
Since palliative care nursing is critical in improving the quality of life for patients with terminal illnesses, nurses should work with family members, multidisciplinary teams, and experts in the field to ensure that their patients receive the best possible care. Ahluwalia et al. (2016) support the effectiveness of therapeutic communication that involves the use of family meetings with focus groups in improving the quality of life of patients who need palliative care. The authors view the nurse as an intermediary between the patient and his or her family members and physician. Such meetings can also include other healthcare professionals who work together and engage in decision-making in order to address the patients’ needs. Palliative care nurses should make efforts to identify and address possible barriers to effective therapeutic communication in such focus group meetings. For instance, they should advocate for the integration of digital health devices such as telehealth technology to ensure that relevant parties participate in the discussions from different locations (Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), 2018). Therapeutic communication through family focus group sessions is an opportunity to address the needs of patients in their end-of-life.
Conclusion
Therapeutic communication is a key component of healthcare delivery, especially in palliative care nursing. Palliative care focuses on addressing the preferences, needs, and values of terminally-ill patients and their families. According to the Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia, nurses should communicate with their patients in a language and develop positive therapeutic relationships to enhance the achievement of the desired health outcomes. The information presented in this essay has great implications for palliative care nurses. Precisely, palliative care nurses should understand that therapeutic communication is associated with positive health outcomes for patients. Precisely, palliative care nursing promotes diagnostic accuracy, enhances adherence to the treatment regimen, and increases patient satisfaction. It also prevents adverse events and reduces the possibility of malpractice risk for healthcare professionals when working with patients in their end-of-life. Notably, therapeutic communication influences the provision of high-quality and patient-centered care for individuals with terminal illnesses and their families. Palliative care nurses should be aware of the communication strategies that enhance the provision of safe, high-quality, and patient-centered palliative care. These strategies include the teach-back technique, family-initiated calls, taking particular patients’ conditions into consideration during communication, and the use of family meetings with focus groups. By employing evidence-based strategies, palliative care nurses can engage in effective therapeutic communication with their patients and their relatives thereby enhancing the provision of safe, high-quality, and patient-centered care.
References
Ahluwalia, S.C., Schreibeis-Baum, H., Prendergast, T.J. & Reinke, L.F. (2016) Nurses as intermediaries: How critical care nurses perceive their role in family meetings. American Journal of Critical Care, 25(1),33-38. https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2016653.
Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA). (2018). Action 5: Enhanced models of care. In Australia’s National Digital Health Strategy, Framework for Action: How Australia will deliver the benefits of digitally enabled health and care (v1.0, pp. 55-63,). Australian Government, Australian Digital Health Agency. https://conversation.digitalhealth.gov.au/framework-for-action.
Bodenheimer, T. (2018). Teach-back: A simple technique to enhance patients’ understanding. Family Practice Management, July/August 2018, pp. 20-22.
Clisset, P., Porock, D., Harwood, R.H. & Gladman, J.R.F. (2013). The challenges of achieving person-centred care in acute hospitals: A qualitative study of people with dementia and their families. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 50(11),1495-1503.
Coyne, I. (2015). Families and health-care professionals’ perspectives and expectations of family-centred care: Hidden expectations and unclear roles. Health Expectations,18(5),796-808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2013.03.001
Gill, F.J., Leslie, G.D. & Marshall, A.P. (2016). The impact of implementation of family-initiated escalation of care for the deteriorating patient in hospital: A systematic review. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing,13(4), 303-313. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12168.
Hampton, L.H. & Kaiser, A.P. (2016). Intervention effects on spoken-language outcomes for children with autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 60(5),444-463. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12283
NMBA. (2022). Registered nurse standards for practice. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/codes-guidelines-statements/professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2005). Code of ethics for nurses in Australia. file:///C:/Users/Admin/Downloads/5_New-Code-of-Ethics-for-Nurses-August-2008.PDF
Palliative Care Australia Limited. (2022). National Palliative Care Standards. 5th ed. https://palliativecare.org.au/publication/standards/
Pokojova, R. & Bartlova, S. (2018). Effective communication and sharing information at clinical handovers. Central European Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 9(4), 947-955. https://doi.org/ 10.15452/CEJNM.2018.09.0028.
Price-Dowd, C. (2018). Communication is a two-way street. British Journal of Nursing, 27(3),171. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2018.27.3.171
Schroeder, K., & Lorenz, K. (2018). Nursing and the future of palliative care. Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, 5(1), 4–8. https://doi.org/10.4103/apjon.apjon_43_17
Warnecke, E. (2014). The art of communication. Australian Family Physician,43 (3),156-158. PMID: 24600681.