5/8/15

From a weekly reflection for the Pediatrics clinicals

1. Demonstrate therapeutic communication skills in interactions and
relationships with families, individuals and other members of the health care
team with attention to the identification and correction of non-therapeutic
communication techniques.
One of my personal goals this week was to communicate effectively
with the nurses and families of my patients. Upon evaluation, I am satisfied
with my performance with nurses. I had two nurses for two patients. The two
nurses had very different ways of communicating. One spoke in soft tones
and always began conversations with "Would you mind - ?" and provided
heads-ups for when and what I should expect next. I realized that I was
relaxed when speaking to her and thus was able to focus on patient care
much better. And the other nurse, whom I assisted once in the past, always
spoke in short sentences and was moving to somewhere else while speaking,
which gave the impression that she didn't want to talk much. I remember
that it was difficult to approach the latter nurse last time. However, I utilized
this week's experience as a good opportunity to practice my communication
skills. I noticed that I tend to return a short reply to a person who speaks to
me in short sentences. Instead of being intimidated by her, I stood straight in
front of her and tried to make full sentences with full rationales of why I was
seeking to speak to her. I know that I still looked intimidated but at least

succeeded to draw her full attention so she would stop her motions and
listen to me. Also, I applied what I learned from the other nurse to the
conversations with this nurse, which is "Would you mind -?" She didn't mind
talking to me at all. As a result, I had professional and effective
communications with her, which affected my patient care in a positive way.