Academic Master

Health Care, Nursing

Assertive Communication in Nursing Education

Introduction

Communication presents our basic form of conveying our thoughts to another person but how effective is communication in this regard? Communication has been the primary mean of transferring and receiving messages, either verbally or written. It allows people to interact with each other, share their personal opinions, and become able to understand the other person. Over the years, there have been different forms of communication practices, and as such, each practice has brought forward a style with it. The mention of communication styles brings up the question of what exactly is a style of communication. Well, communication styles require people to develop relevant communication skills which hold significant value in all fields of life. These skills come in handy whether you are professionally enrolled as a scholar, doctor, lawyer or engineer. Having a firm grip on communication skills will grant a unique advantage. Development of communication styles progress along when skills as a sound communicator take root and progress.

Discussion

Communication has become part of our daily life and proved its Importance to us in ways more than one. The method through which we communicate can provide insight into what impact it has on the other person. Access to being assertive and having excellent command of our communication can permit us to avoid conflict, solve our problems efficiently, have a positive influence on people around us, and allow us to carry on healthy relationships in our life. Communication styles are further divided into three categories namely, assertive, aggressive, and persuasive.

Assertive Communication Style

The assertive communication style presents the concept of adopting a practice of presenting clear expressions related to thoughts, and the way people feel about something or someone but pursuing this style in a manner that it doesn’t present people in a demanding way. The practice of being assertive but doing so in a less demanding way is where this style gains its edge. This thought is best conveyed through the message “we both matter, so let’s try and figure it out.” Adapting to the criteria of being an assertive communicator assists people in mostly getting what they want, keeping themselves clear from conflicts, and improved chances of maintaining a healthy relationship with others in other words it creates a “win-win” scenario but clarifying that the second person’s win is dependent on the first person’s win. Being an assertive communicator can make people easy to understand, allow their thoughts to be spoken out properly, and decline things they wouldn’t want to do while keeping them guilt-free.

 Assertive Communication and Nursing Theory

Being assertive as a communicator has its perks, and this style of communication has proven to be quite helpful in the field of nursing and healthcare. Fields related to Healthcare require an ongoing process of communication since nurses, doctors and support staff is always communicating with their patients and having a good communication style can ensure that their patient feels comfortable around them. Nursing, in particular, needs a better command over their communication skills because they are constantly communicating with their patients, checking up on them, and providing them with the needed assistance. Being an assertive communicator helps nurses in carrying out effective interactions with their patients since each interaction becomes an essential therapeutic chance to assist and educate the patient, teaching them the way of bringing about a change for themselves (Lin et al., 2004). The theoretical framework for nursing includes three important parts, being orientation, working, and termination. The first phase deals with the concept of carrying out a one-sided conversation which includes their identification, elaborating on their task, the nature of this task, and scheduling the meeting. It will assist the nurse in carefully researching into their patient and identifying the right tone to employ for their future communication. The second phase of working relates to developing proper plans, patient-related education, and learning the right kind of physical care for them (Zerwekh, &, Garneau 2017). The last phase deals merely with summarizing and accounting for the accomplished work.

Assertiveness defines itself as an essential characteristic for nurses and represents its key role in all of three phases of the nursing theoretical framework. An assertive communication style allows nurses to achieve an accurate patient care method and assists in creating a trusting interpersonal relationship that will enable them to forward proper suggestions, have the ability to communicate with their patients in an open manner, and present an assertive attitude for their care.

A perspective of interpersonal communication from the nursing point of view presents the possibility of working and improving on the ability to communicate properly. Nurses with a leading command over interpersonal skills can assist in interprofessional development and assist them in guiding other team members and teaching them the needed things in carrying out proper communication with their clients. An interprofessional aspect of an organization has proven its worth and has allowed people to educate themselves in learning the required practices. Not only nursing but interpersonal communication and collaboration also assist people in other professional fields as well (Lingard et al., 2005). Regardless of whether it is related to engineering, information technology or business study-related career. Having a sound understanding of interpersonal communication styles can allow them to interact profoundly, share their queries and acquire assistance on their issues.

Conclusions

Assertive communication among the three major communication styles has proven to be one of the most effective techniques with its own set of perks. Assertive style explains the practice of conveying thoughts in a clear and precise manner, being less demanding in your communication, and getting things done the way you want. This style has proven its importance for nurses as well since the theoretical framework in nursing with its three parts implements the practice of assertive communication.

References

Lin, Y. R., Shiah, I. S., Chang, Y. C., Lai, T. J., Wang, K. Y., & Chou, K. R. (2004). Evaluation of an assertiveness training program on nursing and medical students’ assertiveness, self-esteem, and interpersonal communication satisfaction. Nurse education today, 24(8), 656-665.

Lingard, L., Espin, S., Rubin, B., Whyte, S., Colmenares, M., Baker, G. R., … & Reznick, R. (2005). Getting teams to talk: development and pilot implementation of a checklist to promote interprofessional communication in the OR. BMJ Quality & Safety, 14(5), 340-346.

Zerwekh, J., & Garneau, A. Z. (2017). Nursing Today-E-Book: Transition and Trends. Elsevier Health Sciences.

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