Table of Contents
6 Verbal Communication Skills
The most common type of communication used in nursing care in hospitals is a verbal exchange of information, especially face-to-face conversation.
Verbal communication is usually more accurate and timelier. Words are the tools or symbols used to express ideas or feelings, evoke an emotional response, or outline objects, observations, and memory. Often also to convey a hidden meaning and test the person’s interest. The advantage of face-to-face verbal communication which allows each individual to respond directly.
Effective Verbal Communication must:
1. Clear and concise.
Effective communication should be simple, short, and direct. The fewer words used, the less the likelihood of confusion. Clarity can be achieved by speaking slowly and pronouncing. The use of examples could make the explanation easier to understand. Re an essential part of the message delivered. Receipt of the message needs to know what, why, how, when, who, and where. Brief, using words that express a simple idea.
Example: “Tell me where your pain” is better than “I want you to describe to me a part that you feel bad.”
2. Vocabulary.
Communication will not be successful if the message’s sender cannot translate words and sayings. Many of the technical terms are used in nursing and medicine. If the nurse uses it, the client may become confused and unable to follow directions or learn important information. Say the message with the terms understood by the client. Instead of saying, “Sit while I was going to auscultation of the lungs,” it would be better to say, “Sit down while I listen to your lungs.”
3. Denotative and connotative meaning.
Denotative meaning gives the same sense of the word used. In contrast, the connotative meaning is thoughts, feelings, or ideas contained in a word. Seriously said, the client understood it as a condition of near death, but the nurse used a critical word to describe the near-death state. When communicating with the client, the nurse should choose words that are not easy to mistakenly interpret, particularly important when explaining the purpose of the therapy, therapy, and client conditions.
4. Pause and a chance to speak.
The speed and tempo of speech also determine the success of verbal communication. A long pause and a quick diversion to another subject might give the impression that the nurse was hiding something from the client. Nurses should not babble that the words are not clear. The pause should emphasize certain things, giving the listener time to listen and understand the word’s meaning. Pause right to do denganmemikirkan what to say before I say it, and listen to nonverbal cues from a listener who might show. Nurses can also ask the listener if he talks too slow or too fast and needs to be repeated.
5. Time and relevance.
The right time is significant to get the message. There is no time to explain the operation risk when a client is crying in pain. Despite the spoken message clearly and concisely, but not the right time to accurately block the receipt of the message. Therefore, nurses should be sensitive to the timeliness of communication. Similarly, verbal communication would be more meaningful if the message related to the interests and needs of the client.
6. Humor.
Dugan (1989) says that laughter helps reduce tension and pain caused by stress and improves the success of nurses in providing emotional support to the client. Sullivan and Deane (1988) reported that humor stimulates the production of catecholamines and hormones that induce a feeling of healthy, increase tolerance to pain, reduce anxiety, breathing relaxation, and facilitate the use of humor to mask her fear and discomfort or cover up its inability to communicate with clients.
