Transcript File

Hospital Practice 4
Communicating with patients
Communication with patients
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The RT has to give messages/information to
patient and to receive
messages/information from the patient.
If this is to be effective it is essential that
the RT has a good understanding about the
state of mind of the patient.
When a person becomes ill his mental
process becomes different from that of a
normal person.
This is because his needs will be different.
It is important to assess the patient’s
needs correctly.
Health & Needs
How to assess Patient’s needs?
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What is Health?
Health is a perceptual state of being.
All persons have a unique way of
defining their own state of being
healthy.
Health is often seen as being on a
continuum.
100%
Best
health
People with Normal
health
0%
Illness / State of despair
(close to death)
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At the positive end of the continuum,
all body organs are in top working
order with one’s mental faculties
working at their best.
At the negative end , a person is
close to death or in a state of
despair.
In the middle are persons in all
states of mental an physical wellbeing ranging from good health to
illness and death.
People’s Needs
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All persons have basic needs that
govern their lives.
When their basic needs are met,
other needs emerge that are called
higher needs.
Abraham Maslow, a recognized
psychologist, placed the needs of
man in the following order
Hierarchy of needs
5. Self actualization
(spiritual Needs)
4. Esteem needs ( Self
esteem & esteem of others )
3. Need
for Love &
Belongingnes
s
2. Safety & Security
Needs
1. Physiologic Needs (Basic needs) :-food,
shelter, air, water, sleep, sexual fulfillment
Illness & needs
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Persons whose state of mental and
physical health are at the most
positive end of the health-illness
continuum have their basic needs
met and are pursuing selfactualization.
When illness, whether it be physical
or emotional, overtakes an
individual, he losses his state of well
being.
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He no longer perceives himself as one
whose basic needs for food, water, air,
love, belonging, and self-esteem are being
met.
Illness may mean the loss of one’s ability
to maintain social and economic status.
One’s place in his social group is
threatened.
As illness progresses, the realization of
unmet basic needs increases, and feelings
of great anxiety overwhelm the ill person.
Illness & communication
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When one’s level of wellness has been
compromised and the satisfaction of his
basic needs is threatened, what ever the
cause, regressive behaviour may result.
A person in such a state has difficulty in
communicating effectively.
He may resort to aggressive demands or
may withdraw in silence and not be able
to make his needs known at all.
It will be the RT’s first obligation to assess
his patient’s needs and be able to
communicate with him in a therapeutic
manner.
Important
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RT must remember that his patient is
feeling threatened and is not
functioning at his best.
He must do everything possible to
reassure and comfort the patient
while providing care.
Communication
Definition
 Communication is a constantly
changing process made up of both
spoken and unspoken messages that
go from the sender to the receiver.
Components of communication
Message
Context
Sender
(source)
Context
Receiver
RT-Patient Communication
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Health care is centered around
communication.
All members of the health-care team must
learn to communicate clearly, effectively,
and therapeutically with their patients.
In order to become a successful
communicator, one must develop
skills in listening, observing,
speaking, and writing.
Limitations in Perceiving others
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All of us are limited in our abilities to
perceive others because of our
learned attitudes.
In order to communicate in a therapeutic
manner, the RT must first understand
himself.
He must become aware of his own
limitations and understand any feelings
and attitudes that might lead to bias or
discrimination in interactions with others.
Attitudes & Biases
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Biases are brought about by
attitudes. Attitudes are a set of
beliefs, that a person holds toward
issues or persons that cause the
person to respond in a
predetermined manner and may
eventually affect his general
behaviour.
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a person reacts not to a particular
event, but to a personal perception
of that event., a perception that is
the result of learned attitudes.
The RT must understand this and not
expect patients to feel as he does in
any situation. For instance, the
patient who is experiencing pain will
react to pain in a manner learned
from his past life experience.
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The RT will be better be able to
understand and communicate with
others in a therapeutic manner if he
examines his own background and
considers the source of his own
attitudes, beliefs, prejudices, and
values.
Then, with a new understanding of
himself, he can try to put aside his
own biases and look at each patient
as an individual, with needs and
perceptions different from his own.
Nonverbal Communication
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The unspoken or nonverbal aspects
of communication can be defined as
all stimuli other than the spoken
word involved in communication.
E.g. facial expressions, body
movements, hand signals, nodding,
head shaking
Factors that affect communication
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Cultural Variations
para-language (sound of speech)
Age group
Educational & social level
Hearing problems
Physical condition
environment
Feedback
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In order to be certain that the message
you are transmitting has been correctly
received, feedback must be obtained.
If the message was misunderstood, the
patient will not respond in the manner
that was anticipated. If he does not, it will
be the RT’s responsibility to restate that
the patient will understand and will
demonstrate understanding by giving the
correct feedback.
Developing a harmonious
working relationship
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Although interactions with a patient
will often be brief, the patient should
be made to feel that he is a partner
in the examination process, for
indeed the most important member
of the health team. He should be
made to feel that he is sharing in the
process.
Communication techniques
There are a series of communication techniques
that the RT student should cultivate that will help
him to become a therapeutic member of the
health team. They include;
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establishing communication guidelines
reducing distance
listening
using therapeutic silence
responding to the feeling and the meaning of the
patient’s statements
restating the main idea
reflecting the main idea
making observations
exploring
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introducing yourself, explanation of
the examination or the treatment,
what will be expected of the
patient, what he can expect of the
radiology staff.
reduce the physical distance, make
eye contact, do not cross arms or
legs during communication, do not
perform any other tasks while
attempting to communicate,
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when the patient is speaking “shut
out” your own feelings and assume
a totally nonjudgmental attitude.
related to listening is the
therapeutic use of silence. Short
periods of silence give the patient
time to arrange his thoughts and
consider what he wants to say. This
will help the RT to assess the
patients non verbal communication
as well as his own.
Blocks to therapeutic communication
There are several factors that actually block
or destroy the possibility of crating a
therapeutic atmosphere in communication.
• Speaking rapidly.
• Using complex medical terminology.
• Distracting environment such as a noisy
waiting room
• Language problem
• Failing to explore the patient’s description of a
problem
End of lesson 4
Next :- The grieving process