Communication Barriers in Nursing and their influence on patient safety
Eränen Millicent, Kungu James (2021)
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202104024177
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202104024177
Tiivistelmä
Nursing is an essential element in healthcare provision. At the core of provision of quality care is effective communication. The quality of communication has a significant impact on patient safety. Barriers to communication reduce the quality of communication and increase the risk of negative outcomes in patient care. The current study focused on communication barriers between nurses and patients. The overall aim was to produce evidence-based knowledge on the influence of communication barriers between the nurses and patients on patient safety.
The current study used the descriptive method of literature review to collect data. Peer-reviewed articles were identified from Elsevier, PubMed, ProQuest and Google Scholar using pre-set inclusion and exclusion criteria. The abstracts of all the included titles were assessed to determine those that required a full-text review. The full texts were finally screened in order to select those that would be included in the final synthesis. A thematic content analysis was then employed to organize and summarize the results of the included studies. The results were presented qualitatively in thematic patterns.
The current study found that there are a host of barriers that impede communication between nurses and patients. These barriers exist both on the nurses’ side and on the patients’ side. The authors recommends that barriers can be addressed through training and changes in policy to enhance the interaction between nurses and patients.
The current study also revealed that the quality of communication has an impact on patient safety. Negative outcomes are more commonly seen in cases where communication barriers are prevalent. Therefore, improving communication has a positive impact on patient safety.
The current study used the descriptive method of literature review to collect data. Peer-reviewed articles were identified from Elsevier, PubMed, ProQuest and Google Scholar using pre-set inclusion and exclusion criteria. The abstracts of all the included titles were assessed to determine those that required a full-text review. The full texts were finally screened in order to select those that would be included in the final synthesis. A thematic content analysis was then employed to organize and summarize the results of the included studies. The results were presented qualitatively in thematic patterns.
The current study found that there are a host of barriers that impede communication between nurses and patients. These barriers exist both on the nurses’ side and on the patients’ side. The authors recommends that barriers can be addressed through training and changes in policy to enhance the interaction between nurses and patients.
The current study also revealed that the quality of communication has an impact on patient safety. Negative outcomes are more commonly seen in cases where communication barriers are prevalent. Therefore, improving communication has a positive impact on patient safety.