Topics About 'Communication'.

It started as a lark -- I got a free all-in-one printer with my new computer. Mom's photo album was just sitting there in my dining room, waiting for me to decide what I wanted to do with it, so just for kicks, I scanned a photograph or two. or sixte...

This particular hospital had a "call bell" system in place for the ER. After the regular ER crew left for the night, a patient would ring the "doorbell" in the back to summon service. The bell would buzz abruptly in the nurses' station to let us know...

Good at IV starts- check. Telemetry trained- check. CPR and ACLS certified- check. We work so hard to have a resume that is full of experience and skills; but have we forgotten one of the most important qualifications needed to be a successful nurse?...

We all make communication mistakes. As a hospital-based nurse for over 30 years, I've certainly made my share, and witnessed many more. Along the way, I've picked up a few tips that I hope are helpful to students and new nurses. 1. Avoid loaded langu...

Story #1“Oh, I work a couple of shifts per week. Just enough that I can get out of the house and feel like I’m contributing, but not so much that I’m letting someone else raise my children.” These words spoken to me in passing cut like a dagger to my...

I'm beginning to feel as though the word "compassion" is a dirty word. Maybe it's the way people use it these days. It doesn't seem to be about an actual feeling of empathy toward a patient, family member or even a colleague. It seems to be more abou...

According to Pullen and Mathias (2010), a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is defined as a helping relationship that's based on mutual trust and respect, the nurturing of faith and hope, being sensitive to self and others, and assisting with th...

Feeling overwhelmed by her many job duties, the director of nursing (don) hastily sent out the following memorandum to the nursing staff at her facility. Instead of it being a polished professional communication, the memo is difficult to read due to ...

How much time? She looked up at me with pleading eyes, her head resting on a freshly laundered pillow case and her hair, still damp, laid out against the white expanse to dry. Her voice was firm as she asked the question that was on her mind. Tak...

~"Sleazy car salesman." ~"You can't trust them. They're like used car salesmen: so pushy. And they lie to you, too! ~"Snake oil salesman." ~"It's just so uncomfortable negotiating my salary. I just took whatever they gave me." ~"Well, I didn't want t...

Communication: A Vital Utility Communication can be defined simply as the sharing of information. Even more broadly, communication can be distilled down to the act of a sender producing the content of a message in any of the many forms available ...

Webster's Dictionary defines complacency in a way that we, as a people, can all understand. As nurses and caregivers, we know deep down that complacency is taken to an entirely different level within our scope. It is a weighted situation that causes ...

Nurses are caring. It's a given. Yet, in today's pressured work environment of endless multi-tasking and multiple priorities, they run the risk that their caring may not come across effectively to the patients and families they serve. Connection...

Angela's preceptee, Lindsey, kept being late to work. Not terribly late, sometimes just 3-4 minutes. Other times, maybe 5-7 minutes. Typically Lindsay would rush in, all smiles and apologies. From the first, Angela was annoyed while she waited for Li...

Identifying Common Collaboration Challenges Major factors that affect collaboration include communication, respect and trust, unequal power, understanding professional roles, and task prioritizing. Let’s take a look at how each one of these facto...

Over 30 years ago, I was a young 'float' RN doing morning Team Leader rounds in the Post Partum unit. I had just left a four-bed ward on my way to the next two-patient room. My mind remained on the mothers from that four-bed room, joyfully discu...

It is inevitable. Your path will intersect with difficult patients over your nursing career. Angry, manipulative or overly needy patients can quickly wash away your already strained patience. Patient emotions surrounding loss of independence, stres...

Health systems have to be forward thinking and use creative strategies to recruit good nurses. According to an NSI Nursing Solutions’ 2016 National Healthcare and Retention RN Staffing Report, it costs a conservative estimate of $54,400 to replace e...

When communicating with others we assume that what we say is plainly understood. Often this is not the case. The meaning gets lost in the delivery. What have you done to improve your communication skills? How does your place of work ensure good commu...

In choosing a career as noble and honorable as nursing, having the responsibility of being trusted to care for those who are stricken with illness should always be considered the core of our profession. However, we sometimes overlook the feelings of ...

Memo from the desk of Your Friendly Neighborhood SociopathFor some reason, in my world, there seems to be waves of emotion that hits in a near cyclic manner. And I am most certainly not referring to hormones or my own off kilter dysfunction shabbily ...

Have you ever considered that nursing excellence allows physicians to provide compassionate, patient-centered care? A recent study conducted by Press Ganey revealed that comprehensive nursing practice in high-performing hospitals creates high patient...

Many nurses seem to ask variations of the aforementioned question. We want to be polite to our patients and visitors, albeit for different reasons. Some of us believe in the, "treat others as you would want to be treated," mantra, whereas other nurse...

As nursing students, our duties make the best part of our stay in the college, and being with group mates who are very out-of-this-world really freaks us out, especially when we have a case presentation, a thesis for the research, and to make it wors...

I remember working at a hospital in Tucson, AZ that is no longer even open now. I was pulled to one of the medical-surgical floors and was assigned to the back half of the hall. The way this unit was designed, you barely even went that way unless you...