Question

Mr. Cruz is a 34 year old Mexican man who went to the Emergency Department (ED) because of several days of upper respiratory track symptoms. A chest x-ray revealed a small lung nodule of unknown significance. He was felt to have a viral syndrome and was given an appointment to follow-up in the pulmonary clinic in 10 days for further evaluation of the nodule. After missing his initial and two rescheduled appointments, one of the nurses called him home to encourage him to keep his appointment scheduled for next week. As she speaks with him she is not confident that her message is understood. After completing the call the nurse discusses the patient with a HEALTH EDUCATOR expressing her frustration over communicating with patients who cannot speak English. She states: “These people never keep their appointments. I don’t know why we waste our time tracking them down.”

QUESTIONS: One PARAGRAPH each

1. If you were the “Health Education Strategist” listening to the nurse’s frustration; how would you have responded to the nurse?

2. In your view what is exactly going on with both the Nurse as well as Mr. Cruz?

3. How can you help the two bridge the gap?

4. In your professional life if you ever encountered a similar case, how would you handle it-what strategies you would apply?

5. Is there any lesson to learn from this story?

Answer 1

1) On listening to nurse's frustration, as the Health Education Strategist, i would try to ease out nurse's frustration. I would suggest the nurse to keep patience and try to speak to patient politely. I would suggest her to communicate in patient's own language and try to understand it. I would also tell her to obtain the trust of the patient.

2) In my view, the nurse is unable to use the appropriate language. She is also not able to obtain the trust of patient. She is impatient and frustrated enough because she thinks that the patient has not understood her message.

In my view, Mr. Cruz (the patient) is feeling uncomfortable and is not able to understand nurse's message. He cannot understand the language of nurse effectively. He may be anxious and emotionally unstable.

3) I would try to fill the communication gap between the nurse and the patient. I would suggest nurse to use the legible language with appropriate words so that the ideas and feelings of both nurse and patient are exchanged between each other. I would teach nurse to understand the patient's own language. I would also teach her to respect patient's emotions and feelings. I would suggest her to ease out the tension of patient and obtain his / her trust. I would also ease out the frustration and hopelessness of nurse.

This is how i can help to bridge the communication gap between the nurse and the patient.

4) In my professional life if i ever encountered a similar case, then my communication with the patient would have a clear purpose, focus on the subject and the highlighted theme. My language would be simple and legible, voice would be soft and tone would be milder. I would make my language rich in emotions and try to obtain the trust of patient. I would try to reduce the anxiety of the patient.

5) Yes, there is a lesson to learn from this story. The lesson to learn is that the effective communication between the nurse and patient plays a significant role in the successful treatment and recovery of the patient from disease. It is an important factor in improving nurse - patient relationship and providing high quality nursing care and leads to patient's satisfaction.