Interpersonal Communications in Health Care Environments

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Literature Review
Chapter Summary
Methodology
Results
References

Introduction

Background of Study

The complexity of human behavior has led to an agreement among researchers that the behavior of health caregivers has significant power on patient recovery. For example, health providers’ traits, the ability to express warmth and concern for the patient have appeared to increase a patient’s recovery rate drastically. Interpersonal traits involve more than how one communicates with others since it involves the speaker’s confidence and ability to listen and understand.

How effectively one solves problems and manage stress is what is referred to as interpersonal traits. Malpractice lawsuits usually arise from inadequate communication with patients, and this can be easily be avoided with caregivers paying extra attention concerning communication with patients. Lee et al. (2002) point out that effective interpersonal communication between a patient and a caregiver is determined by the way a caregiver presents him or herself at the patient’s bedside. Patients judge this as a major indicator of their caregiver’s general competence.

Statement of Problem

How a caregiver relates with a patient has a remarkable effect on whether the patient will be satisfied or raise concerns. However, in most cases, caregivers do not encourage two-way communication between themselves and the patients, especially when the discussion touches on sensitive issues such as the severity of a patient’s condition. In other instances, caregivers tend to prefer patients to take everything they are told without raising too many questions that could lead to patient dissatisfaction with the services provided to them at the end. This study, therefore, aims at establishing instances of failure of interpersonal traits and probable ways to address these problems (Clack, et al. 2004).

Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study is to establish if interpersonal traits affect relationships between patients and caregivers (staff) in healthcare environments.

Research Question

The study seeks to answer the question: what are the effects of interpersonal traits in relationships between patients and caregivers in health environments?

Organization of Study

This paper has three chapters. Chapter 1 deals with the introduction and research questions. Chapter 2 deals with the literature review, and conceptual models while the last chapter deals with data collection methods, analysis, and the conclusion.

Literature Review

Interpersonal Traits

Skills used by a person to interact effectively with other people are referred to as interpersonal traits. These include listening skills, facial expressions, gestures, communication skills among others. These traits are easily developed and enable caregivers to earn huge rewards to their profession as well as ensure maximum patient satisfaction.

Importance of Interpersonal Traits

Interpersonal traits in a healthy environment can make a caregiver’s life happy and successful and there is, therefore, a need to improve these skills. Satisfied patients are advantageous to a caregiver in terms of reduction of work-related stress and burnout and job satisfaction. A caregiver with good interpersonal traits will for example evaluate and know in advance the best way to respond to a patient’s questions without annoying the patient and ensuring that the patient is satisfied with the service provided.

Successful communication between a patient and a caregiver is an essential clinical function. Arora (2003) explains the communication between a patient and a health provider as the heart and art of medicine and a central component in the delivery of health care.

The main objectives of effective interpersonal communication between a caregiver and a patient include the creation of good interpersonal relationships, facilitating the exchange of information, and including patients in decision-making, especially those about their health. Through effective communication, a caregiver can easily regulate a patient’s emotions and enable the patient to improve his or her comprehension of medical information as well as easily identify a patients’ needs, perceptions, and expectations. Caregivers who practice better interpersonal skills have more patients with better recovery rates as compared to those with poor interpersonal skills (Stewart, et al. 2000).

Barriers to Effective Communication between HealthCare Givers and Patients

It is known worldwide that medical training is strenuous since it takes several years of vigorous reading, practical as well as examinations. This causes emotional and physical strain to a medical trainee, and it has been attributed to the depreciation of the quality of interpersonal skills among most caregivers. There are instances in which caregivers avoid emotional and social discussions relating to patients’ problems. The caregiver unknowingly may harbor these emotions and in the end, feel guilty and emotionally distressed to an extent that his or her work is affected negatively. Also, it could affect the level and quality of care given to subsequent patients (Maguire & Pitceathly, 2002).

Lack of sufficient explanation of a patients’ condition by a caregiver may lead to patient dissatisfaction. In some instances, caregivers may be unwilling to explain fully a patient’s condition and the best method of treatment. Other caregivers discourage their patients from asking too many questions leading to a lack of understanding by the patients. For example, with the emergence of technology and the internet, patients are increasingly able to understand their conditions and in some instances, even prescribe treatment plans for themselves. Other patients easily resist expert authority that society has granted caregivers.

Lee and Garvin (2003) go-ahead to explain that in some instances, patients choose to ignore whatever advice they get from caregivers or simply shut the caregiver out. Miscommunication of important information may negatively affect the choice of treatment plans that patients decide. This could have a significant influence on the disease a patient is suffering from.

Effective Communication

This is transmitting information in a way that the recipient can understand clearly without distortion or misunderstanding. However, this is not always the because of hindrances such as ethnicity, gender, and culture among others. In a health setting, miscommunication can be fatal to a patient’s health. Some of these factors include a patient’s way of life that may hamper how he or she communicates with a caregiver.

Instances of language barriers are a major challenge that caregivers get in trying to understand and pass information to a patient. Socioeconomics that include literacy levels, economic status, personal beliefs, and behaviors may hinder how information is passed and perceived between caregivers and patients. Some medical jargon does not have similar terms in the nonprofessional’s language and therefore, caregivers a faced with the hard task of trying to look for close words to explain a particular medical term. This especially can be hard for patients with low literacy levels to understand.

Models of Health Care Giver- Patient Relationship

The Paternalistic Model

In this model that is also called the priestly model, physicians solely determine the best treatment plan for the patient. The caregiver goes ahead to present the plan to the patient for consent after establishing that it is the best treatment plan. The model assumes that there are shared objectives between patients and caregivers however even if the patient does not fully agree with some suggested treatment plans the caregiver will go ahead and administer the treatment plan in the hope that in the long run, the patient will be grateful. During emergency cases, this model is very appropriate. In instances where there are no emergencies, this method is not justified and even caregivers agree to this.

The Interpretive Model

In this model, the caregiver helps the patient to determine the best treatment model to adopt. The caregiver acts as a counselor in this model and therefore does not make decisions on behalf of the patient but rather provides the patient with the pros and cons of particular treatment plans and help the patient settle on the best and most appropriate treatment plan. Despite the positive aspects of the model, unwittingly caregivers may impose their values and judgments on the patient and fail to effectively consider what the patient wants.

The Deliberative Model

The caregiver carries out moral discussions with the patient. In this model, the caregiver persuades the patient to undertake a particular treatment plan based on one’s experience. Here the caregiver acts as a teacher or friend to the patient. This model allows caregivers to judge patients’ values and promote particular health-related values. This is even though a caregiver’s values may conflict with those of his or her patients. Besides, caregivers and patients may have different moral deliberations.

The Informative Model

In the model, the caregiver provides the patient with all information about the patient’s disease state and all the relevant information about this disease. The caregivers’ role in this model is just to provide information to the patient. In this model, also there is no place for the caregivers’ values and understanding a patient’s values. The patient has autonomous control over medical decision making here.

The caregiver acts as a competent technical expert and whatever decision the patient adopts, the caregiver executes it without question. This model is extremely inaccurate because the caregiver has to agree to whatever the patient wishes; even when it is clear the patient is wrong (Bach & Grant, 2009). The paternalistic model is preferred in cases of emergency. There is a need to adopt all four models to come up with the best model to use. However, the need for shared decision making to come up with the best treatment plan for the patient is usually encouraged (Maguire & Pitceathly, 2002).

Characteristics of a Great Caregiver

There is a need for a caregiver to be an excellent communicator which involves being able to effectively pass information as well as being a great listener. Caregiving is a stressful profession with many instances of traumatic occurrences. Caregivers should be able to accept death and suffering without letting it affect their individuality. Caregivers should also be able to appreciate heartwarming experiences in their jobs that include seeing patients recover and reunite with their families. Great caregivers can feel compassion and a passion to provide comfort. Patients look at caregivers with so much expectation. This hence puts the caregiver in an awkward position and they have to learn to be there for their patients. Caregivers should have the important quality of empathy (Maguire & Pitceathly, 2002).

Flexibility in terms of working hours and taking many shifts is another major quality of a great caregiver. The ability to work overtime, during weekends and nightshifts without complaint should be what motivates and drives a caregiver. Caregivers should pay attention to every detail and leave nothing to chance. This is because a simple mistake can spell tragedy for someone else’s life. Besides, a great caregiver should have excellent problem-solving skills as well as the ability to respond quickly to situations. A caregiver should be prepared to always handle emergencies at any particular time of their profession. Great caregivers should therefore have the unique ability to respect people and rules. This includes the ability to realize that the patient comes first, no matter what the situation is.

The Quality of the Interaction Between Physician and Patient Can Be Extremely Influential in Patient Outcomes.

Caregivers like having a professional identity. In most cases, they achieve this through the number of patients they have successfully treated. Good interpersonal skills go a great way in aiding patient recovery. Patients who have been treated well in a healthy environment are a great way of advertising a doctor’s name as the patient sells the good word to his or her friends and family about the services of a particular caregiver.

Ways of Improving Interpersonal Skills

Patients value a caregiver’s interpersonal skills even more than their medical expertise. Some of the suggested methods and strategies of improving interpersonal skills include:

Time with patients: Patients value caregivers who spend time with them discussing personal and medical issues. There is a need for caregivers to ensure that they are easy to talk to by being good listeners and put patients’ suggestions into consideration (Stewart, et al. 2000).

Good Medical opinions: Caregivers should research and study changes in medical procedures to enable them to provide sound medical decisions to the patients.

Asking the right questions: patients do not usually understand what is ailing them and it is for this reason that they visit hospitals to get expert verdicts on the exact problem. Therefore, caregivers need to ask probing questions but in a tactical way to ensure, they get full information about a patient and at the same time not offend the patient (Karen, Barbara & Rimer, 2008).

Dignity and Respect: Being on time for appointments and not keeping patients waiting for long is among the ways that a caregiver can show respect to a patient. Availability during emergencies: Caregivers need to be available whenever there is an emergency. This can be done by instituting emergency numbers or even giving patients direct phone numbers where they can easily be reached.

Essentials of Patient Satisfaction: The patient always wants to be provided with an opportunity to tell his or her own story and feel that the caregiver is paying attention as well as considering everything.

Caregivers should take a patient’s problems seriously, be able to explain information clearly as well as try to understand a patient’s experience and expectations. Patients should be encouraged to express their concerns, fears, and ideas. This makes them feel and control and therefore more satisfied.

A patient’s social and psychological functioning should always be put into consideration by a caregiver. Doing this greatly increases a patient’s satisfaction. Besides, patients prefer frequent visits from caregivers as this makes them feel that they have been taken care of well. Patients greatly value how the entire staff relates to them. For example cleaners, nurses, laboratory staff among others. Therefore, there is a need for a healthy environment to always ensure that all its employees can treat patients with great respect and dignity. Patient satisfaction is greatly increased when they receive continuous treatment and referrals from the same caregiver (Lee & Garvin, 2003).

Chapter Summary

Communication between a caregiver and a patient is a critical part of a patient’s life. With effective communication, a lot of complaints and lawsuits can easily be avoided. It has been noted that most patient complaints are related to issues of communication and not clinical incompetence. Patients want caregivers who can treat them as well as effectively communicate with them. Effective communication can also put a caregiver in an advantageous position in which they can detect problems in advance, therefore, preventing medical complications and expensive treatment methods.

Methodology

This chapter provides background information on the study topic. It highlights the relationship between patients’ and caregivers’ interpersonal traits and the methodology used to collect and analyze the data collected.

Data Needs

Data were collected on patients to come up with different outcomes on how patients who received effective communication from caregivers reacted to treatment as well as how those who did not get effective communication responded to treatment. The major aim of this data was to establish if there is a relationship between the recovery rate of patients and effective communication and interpersonal traits from caregivers (Hughes, et al. 2004). Information was also collected about caregivers who practiced effective communication and interpersonal traits and how this influenced both their professional and personal lives.

Data Collection Methods

Secondary data collection method was majorly used: This involved a literature review of documented information from health care practices and how communication influenced the outcome of treatment offered. The literature on different caregivers and how different situations were handled was also reviewed for comparison purposes. Direct observation and personal experiences were also used to collect the data needed (Houghton, Marshall & Thomas, 2010).

Data Analysis

Data collected was analyzed to establish the effects of interpersonal skills between patients and healthcare givers as well as propose measures to improve interpersonal traits. A review and analysis of four conceptual models were done to try to establish the preferred model. All the models are best suited during different scenarios, therefore, need to be adopted concurrently.

Results

The research paper established that interpersonal traits greatly affected relationships between caregivers and patients. Effective communication was found to greatly assist in patient satisfaction and recovery time. Caregivers with effective interpersonal traits were found to be happier and satisfied by their work. Cases of lawsuits against caregivers and patients were found to be minimal in facilities with effective interpersonal communication between caregivers and patients.

This greatly increased quality of services provided as well as profits reaped in cases of private health facilities. Some medical jargon does not have similar terms in the nonprofessional’s language and therefore, caregivers a faced with the hard task of trying to look for close words to explain a particular medical term. This especially can be hard for patients with low literacy levels to understand.

References

Arora N. Interacting with cancer patients: the significance of physicians’ communication behavior. Soc Sci Med. 57(5), 791–806.

Bach, S. & Grant, A. (2009). Communication and Interpersonal Skills for Nurses. Web.

Clack, G. B., Allen, J., Cooper, D., & Head, J. O. (2004). Personality differences between doctors and their patients: implications for the teaching of communication skills. Med Educ., 38(2), 177-86.

Houghton, G., Marshall, S. & Thomas L. (2010). Interpersonal Traits, Complementarity and Trust in Virtual Collaboration. Web.

Hughes, J. et al. (2004). Clinical risk groups (CRGs): A classification system for risk-adjusted capitation-based payment and health care management. Medical Care, 42(1), 81–90.

Karen, G., Barbara, K. & Rimer, V. (2008). Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice. (4 ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Lee, R. G., & Garvin, T. (2003). Review Moving from information transfer to information exchange in health and health care. Soc Sci Med, 56(3), 449-64.

Lee, S. J., Back, A. L., Block, S.D., Stewart, S.K. (2002). Review Enhancing physician-patient communication. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program, 1(2):464-83.

Maguire, P., & Pitceathly, C. (2002). Review Key communication skills and how to acquire them. BMJ, 325(7366), 697-700.

Stewart, M. et al. (2000). The impact of patient-centered care on outcomes. Journal of Fam. Pract., 49(9), 796–804.

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