Communication challenges

Abstract There are social, cultural, and organizational factors which can impact communication in nursing, and it is an unfortunate fact that, in the course of their everyday work, nurses will sometimes be confronted by communication challenges. While each practitioner is individually accountable for their communications, singular incidents often reflect larger cultural problems or systemic factors. In a safeguarding context, when nurses adopt an advocacy role, they may have to raise concerns over patient care issues via the appropriate organizational channels. Communication challenges may also arise between nurses and patients, other members of the nursing team, clinical colleagues, managers, relatives, visitors, or members of the public, so nurses need to be adept at dealing with conflict. The nature of nursing work and the stress of any clinical environment also mean that conflict situations will occasionally emerge in day-to-day practice. Sometimes these can escalate into episodes of verbal or physical abuse, or prompt acts of aggressive or violent behaviours, and it is incumbent on nurses to ensure their own and their patients’ safety. Another everyday challenge faced by adult nurses will be the occasional need to break bad news to a person. While this may not always be life-changing information, breaking bad news means that nurses need to be skilled in assessing when information is likely to have an emotional impact. This chapter explores these issues and shows how nurses can maintain safety for patients and colleagues involved in communication challenges.