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Fundamentals of Nursing

Introduction

Fundamentals of NursingIntroduction
Figure 2.1 Healthcare providers communicate to provide safe, effective care for patients. (credit: “JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (July 19, 2017) – Cmdr. Julie Conrardy” by Jacob Sippel, Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Public Domain)

Chapter Outline

Introduction

Communication was developed thousands of years ago, as people attempted to warn each other about threats and create social communities with nonauditory and auditory methods of communicating. Eventually, communication became making sounds, speaking words, and talking. Communication evolved to pictograms or cave paintings, and finally written word, in the form of hieroglyphics. Methods of communication continue to evolve today, fueled by technological advances. Health care has a similar trajectory, evolving from primitive care to present-day technologies treating and curing diseases. Communication in health care is reliant on both healthcare providers and the patients requiring the care. For example, both the healthcare provider and the patient need to be able to communicate clearly with each other. Healthcare communication was generally unregulated until the 1970s, when the U.S. government decided to moderate communication in health care. In 1975, the Health Communication Division of the International Communication Association was founded, creating a researchable entity of communication and a definition for healthcare communication (Society for Health Communication, 2016). The American Nurses Association (ANA) devotes nine of the Standards of Nursing Practice and Professional Performance entirely to communication, thereby establishing a level of competency for all nurses (ANA, 2015).

Nurses can benefit from understanding the types and models of effective communication to establish therapeutic relationships with patients and encourage health promotion. Communication is foundational in health care and helps patients meet their individual healthcare goals.

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