Running Head: CLINICAL APPLICATION

CLINICAL APPLICATION
Tiffany Homan
English310
August 15, 2015
Kim Smith

CLINICAL APPLICATION

CLINICAL APPLICATION
For people outside of the medical profession, a hospital or doctor's office can be an intimidating
place. The job of making a patient feel comforted and cared for often falls on the shoulders of the
nurses. To best meet the needs of a patient, nurses must learn the principles of therapeutic
communication, which is defined as communication [1] strategies that support a patient's feeling
of well-being.
This term is easy to recall. Something that is therapeutic is done to help a person cope with a
situation and ultimately feel happier and more relaxed. The goals of therapeutic communication
are to help a patient feel cared for and understood and establish a relationship in which the
patient feels free to express any concerns.
As per the case of Mr Alberto Mendez, he was already late, angry and impatient. Depending on
the current situation, the following two communication processes might have taken place during
the encounter:1. The sender has an idea to communicate: the patient itself represents the sender. Depending on
his present situation which includes his mood, physical behaviour, cultural heritage, background,
medical history, the medical assistant will act accordingly and deal with the situation.
2. The receiver decodes the message: the medical assistant represents the receiver. It is always a
challenge for the medical assistant to analyse a patient. It is important for a medical assistant to
create an environment best suited for the patient. It is important for a medical assistant to

CLINICAL APPLICATION

effectively communicate with the patient and let him believe that he is at the right place and most
important at that place.
Anything that inhibits effective communication is termed as noise [2]. Considering the present
scenario, Mr Alberto does not know English. So the first factor that act as a noise is:
1. There is a language barrier or a cultural difference that is preventing the receiver to understand
the message.
At the present scenario, Mr Albertos daughter who should act as a translator is crying. Hence the
second factor acting as a noise is:
2. The channel by which the sender transmits the message is faulty.

References

[1]. http://study.com/academy/lesson/therapeutic-communication-definition-goals-typesprinciples.html
[2]. https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-managementtextbook/communication-11/barriers-to-effective-communication-84/noise-as-a-barrierto-communication-405-1507/