NUR1102-Literacies and Communication for Health Care

Brief task description

Students will prepare and record an oral presentation based on a given case study. The task will require consideration of communication processes between nurse, patient and family with respect to frameworks and concepts of care covered in the course content. Students will also prepare and present a SOAP note and SBAR verbal clinical handover as part of their presentation.

Course Objectives measured

CLO 2. Apply therapeutic communication knowledge to case studies. 

CLO 3. Identify and reflect upon factors that contribute to effective and ineffective interpersonal and inter and intra professional communication and the implications for patient safety. 

CLO 4. Identify and explain strategies that promote resilience and self-care in interpersonal communication. 

CLO 5.Use and reflect on emerging critical thinking, digital literacy and health literacy using correct academic writing skills.

Task Detail

Analyse the communication processes occurring between the patient, family and nurse in the given case study based on your developed knowledge and understanding of communications in healthcare. Create a recording of your analysis, identifying and discussing the ineffective verbal and nonverbal communication evident in this scenario. Apply the effective communication strategies, skills and approaches and communication frameworks for loss and grief that contribute to achieving therapeutic communication for patient and family. Discuss your reflections of resilience and self-care in practice as part of therapeutic communication. Integrate a SOAP note for the non-verbal inter-professional communication and a verbal clinical handover (SBAR format) on how you would communicate this to the nurse you handover to at the end of your shift, as per intra-professional communication.

Your slide presentation must include the following:

1.  An introduction: 

-Introduce yourself to the reader/listener

-Provide an overview of the main points which your presentation is going to provide the listener/reader

2.In the body of your presentation:

-Provide a discussion of each of the components in your presentation:

i.Your analysis of the verbal and nonverbal communication used by the nurse, patient and family in the case study, inclusive of communication strategies, skills and approaches, discussion on caring conversations to support the loss and grief of the patient with inclusion of cultural awareness  and reflections on resilience and self-care in healthcare communication. 

ii.The SOAP note that documents the ineffective communication. You will include in your presentation a slide of a documented SOAP note of the information exchange between yourself and patient and family, as part of written communication in healthcare.

iii.The SBAR approach for clinical handover for consistency in therapeutic communication. You will provide an orally presented clinical handover using the SBAR format for inter-professional communication between nurses to ensure consistency of therapeutic communication is maintained.

-Provide in text references in slides to support your information and/or specific examples. 

3.In your conclusion: 

-Provide summation on how written and verbal professional communication contributes to patient safety and quality in nursing practice. Finish with a powerful impact statement.

Your last slide will be your reference page of all in-text references/citations.

You need to engage your audience (either other student nurses, Registered Nurses, lecturers for example) and appeal to their learning styles. In your presentation, you can be creative to make your information more interesting for the audience to help engagement.

Case Study

Mrs. Helena Gerzick is 86 years of age, a polish immigrant from the 1950’s and is in an aged care facility in Toowoomba. She has been placed in the facility recently as she lives on her own, and has been deemed unsafe to self-care and mobilise in her home without some supervision. She is a widow of 7 months and is still grieving the loss of her husband. She is upset about leaving her family home her husband built for her on arrival to Australia and questions staff daily on, “when can I go back to my home?”

You are the student nurse caring for Helena and you respond to a call from her nurse-call button. Helena has family visiting her and they start to question you on why Helena has been told she “can go home this weekend as she is improving” and that “my nurse today said that I can go home.” You attempt to explain this is incorrect, when Helena interrupts and states she was told this yesterday evening and again this morning when escorted to the bathroom without any assistance and was praised by you for doing well on her own and “completing all hygiene cares herself with no help at all.” 

You realise there has been a misinterpretation of your praise for Helena and move closer towards Helena, leaning over her and facing her, saying loudly:

 “No I didn’t Helena, you have that mixed up. I was just praising you for being very good on your own, not needing my help.”

With that, Helena’s son stands up, moves closer to you and states loudly, 

“Don’t speak to my mother like that! She is not deaf and that was very rude the way you spoke to her just now.” 

You step back from the son quickly, startled by his close presence and then again turn to speak to Helena. 

“Sorry Helena but you need to tell your family the truth that I didn’t say you were going home. You have misunderstood that my praise of you was a decision that you were going home.”

As you leave the bedspace, you face Helena’s son to say,

 “You must not believe everything your mother says. Also, I read in Helena’s clinical chart that she does have a hearing deficit, hence why I was leaning in closer for her to see that I was talking to her and speaking more loudly for her to hear me properly.”

As you leave Helena’s room, you go to record the communication exchange in Helena’s clinical chart only to see you have confused Helena’s hearing deficit with another one of your patient’s allocated today. Helena’s hearing is normal.