Role of Therapeutic Communication in Nursing

 

Jobs for nurses can be demanding while offering a vivid experience of caring for patients with diverse needs. Among all the diverse patient care needs, therapeutic communication plays an essential role and fits into all patient care scenarios. With the increasing importance of therapeutic communication for nurses, various nursing courses in Canada are making it an essential module of the curriculum.

For nursing, therapeutic communication is an essential tool for providing excellent patient care. Established on a foundation of empathy and respect for each patient's needs and goals, therapeutic communication helps create caring relationships with them in which their views are listened to and addressed. Its purpose goes beyond just active listening—it uses language proactively to develop connections between the nurse and the patient by understanding how language can be used to influence thoughts and feelings. With its capacity to motivate habitual behavior change, facilitate cooperation during medical treatments, and decrease anxiety levels while improving problem-solving skills, it is no wonder why nurses need to master this important skill.

In this blog post, we’ll explore therapeutic communication's role in modern nursing practice, so you understand when it’s necessary or beneficial for both parties involved.

Using Therapeutic Communication in Jobs for Nurses

Nurses are on the frontline of patient care and often must act as a mediator between patient and doctor, providing emotional support and understanding. To do this effectively, nurses must utilize therapeutic communication tactics. These tactics allow nurses to build rapport with patients to form a trusting relationship that can help improve patient outcomes. Let’s look at some of the techniques nurses can use when engaging in therapeutic communication.

1. Understand the Patient’s Perspective

The first step in effective therapeutic communication is truly understanding the perspective of the patient. This involves active listening, which is giving your full attention to what the patient is saying without judgment or interruption. Active listening also involves reflecting on what you’ve heard so that patients know they have been properly heard and understood. By taking time to understand their perspective, you can better empathize with them and provide them with more personalized care.

2. Compassionate Communication

Nurses need to remember that patients are going through a difficult experience and need compassion and empathy during their treatment. Being compassionate does not mean agreeing with everything the patient says but rather showing them respect and kindness throughout their treatment plan. Compassionate communication shows that you are open-minded and willing to help them through whatever challenges they may face during recovery.

3. Validate Feelings

One of the most important elements of therapeutic communication is validating a patient’s feelings. Everyone has different life experiences, so nurses need to recognize that no two people will react in the same way when faced with a difficult situation or diagnosis. Validation helps patients feel safe to express themselves without fear of judgment or criticism from healthcare professionals, allowing them to be more open about their emotions while they receive treatment.

Conclusion:

Therapeutic communication is an invaluable tool for helping patients navigate difficult times during their medical journey. By using techniques such as active listening, compassionate communication, and feeling validation, nurses can foster trust between themselves and their patients so that they can work together towards successful recovery goals. As healthcare providers continue striving for excellence in patient care, developing strong therapeutic relationships should remain a top priority as it can ultimately lead to better outcomes for those receiving treatment from nurses everywhere.

Different Misconceptions About Nursing

 

The scope of nursing in Canada is increasing since it is one of the oldest and most well-respected professions. Yet, there can be misconceptions attached to nursing education and the profession because of improper information circulated about it amongst the public. Let us go through some of the common misconceptions about nursing and the truths behind them.

Nursing is a profession only for Women

Historically, the profession of nursing was widely chosen by women. Even in recent times, it is a female-dominated profession, but men have slowly started entering it.

Nurses Must Go Back to Full-Time Schools for Career Progression

Just like every field of medicine, nursing requires you to upskill and keep up with the latest trends and knowledge. Advancing your skills and nursing education is essential to progress in your nursing career. However, the myth that to do so you need to go back to full-time schooling is not true. There are plenty of paths that help you in building a successful nursing career alongside studying. After becoming a licensed Registered Nurse (RN), you can pursue certificates, diplomas, and specialty-based courses that can add value to your professional journey.

Nurses only Work in Hospitals

Gone are those times when nurses were found working only in hospitals. Nowadays, the nursing workforce is widespread across home healthcare services, nursing, and residential care facilities, government organizations, and long-term care homes. It is also important to know that unlike before, nurses in the present don’t just treat patients but also manage and oversee other staff members.

Nursing is Highly Stressful with Long Working Hours

A profession that touches the lives of many and offers improved quality of life will come with its challenges and hurdles for sure. However, in this ever-expanding field of nursing, flexibility is also making its way. Amidst long working hours and extended shifts, nurses nowadays are offered the privilege to make variations to their schedules. There have been many initiatives in private as well as public sectors worldwide to make the lives easier for nurses so that they can spend a balanced time at work and with their families.

Nurses are Aspiring Doctors

The profession of nursing is incredibly demanding. So, nurses are highly passionate about their work. It is true that nurses work in sync with doctors and implement the treatment plans created by doctors. But, in no way are nurses aspiring to be someone other than an exceptional version of themselves.

Nursing is a Messy Job

Nurses often perform work that can be messy. Drawing blood, cleaning bandages, changing adult diapers, and bedpans, and much more. This job requires certain procedures that improve patient care, but they come with a cost for nurses. It can be right to say that some aspects of nursing jobs are messy,

but it is the true intent of nurses and how they perceive it. Nurses who identify their characteristic traits and accept wholeheartedly their professional duties, will not find it messy.

Blood Sugar Stabilizing Foods that Nurses Should Eat During 12-Hour Shifts

Nursing is a demanding profession. There is a need for nursing professionals to get many things done on an everyday basis while being on the move within a healthcare setting. In the middle of a high-pressure work setting, it is important that nurses take care of themselves by consuming food that stabilizes and even strengthens their bodies.

If you are working for one of the jobs for nurses that require you to attend a 12-hour shift then you should be monitoring your food intake consistently. Eating the right food or the food that stabilizes the blood sugar can have a tremendous effect on the blood sugar and your overall health.

Becoming a successful nurse has a lot to do with being in a good physical and mental state. Hence, you must try to consume healthy food that can keep your blood sugar in check. In this blog, we will see the blood sugar-stabilizing foods that nurses should eat during a 12-hours shift.

1. Fruits and Vegetables: Everyone who consumes whole fruits including blueberries, apples, and grapes has a low risk of having high blood sugar. Most fruits contain a lot of water and fibre to balance out naturally occurring sugar which is called fructose.

Consuming fruits and vegetables can help you in getting protected against heart diseases and even diabetes. So if you are new at one of the jobs for nurses, make it a point to eat healthy by consuming whole fruits and vegetables in your diet.

Some of the blood sugar balancing fruits and vegetables that you can add to your diet include apples, grapes, berries, avocados, broccoli, kale, and spinach.

         2. Whole Grains: Whole grains can be an amazing source of fibre and other important nutrients such as B12 vitamins, iron, selenium, potassium, magnesium, and folate which are responsible for keeping the blood sugar in check.

Even during completing the nursing study in Canada, you must be taught that eating food rich in whole grains helps in keeping heart disease at bay, manage high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.

Hence, you must try to consume whole grain versions of food as much as possible. Some of the whole-grain foods that you can eat during 12-hour shifts include oatmeals, crackers, quinoa, brown rice, barley, buckwheat, millets, whole wheat bread, etc.

         3. Protein-Rich: Proteins are macronutrients that are important for building muscle mass that helps in limiting carb consumption to burn off more fat. Protein does not increase blood sugar levels and it can also help a person feel fuller for a long time.

Consuming protein-rich foods at your jobs for nurses can slow your digestion and also prevent any post-meal blood sugar spikes along with increasing the feeling of fullness. Some examples of high protein foods include fish, tuna, egg, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds, soybean, etc.

           4. Flavourful and Low-Calorie Drinks: Keeping yourself hydrated by drinking water is a good option but infusing the same water with fruits and vegetables is a great option too. You can cut a lemon or cucumber and put it in water or also make ice cubes while adding some flavouring to them.

In case you are not a hot tea drinker then you can also try cold tea with lemon or a cinnamon stick. Not only will this kind of beverage be low in carbohydrates but it will also help fill you up so you do not crave anything else.

Conclusion:

Working a 12 hours shift can be a tiring endeavour. As a nurse who is responsible for taking care of patients, you must first ensure that you are healthy too and for that, stabilizing your blood sugar levels is important. Make sure you consume healthy foods during your shift so that your blood sugar levels can be optimal and stabilized.

Your Guidebook to Promoting Teamwork in a Nursing Unit

Nursing professionals use teamwork skills every day. From collaborating with other nurses to developing care plans with doctors, nurses are required to collaborate to ensure optimal healthcare outcomes. If you are a nurse then this post will serve the purpose of being your guidebook to promoting teamwork in a nursing unit. 

Students are made to learn the importance of teamwork early on from the time they pursue nursing education. This is because teamwork teaches nurses to reduce medical errors, improve patient care, and establish an efficient workflow. This in turn leads to a successful nursing career. 

In this blog, we will list some actionable steps that can be taken to improve your teamwork skills as a nurse. 

1. Increased Communication: An extremely common cause of a medical error is when a nursing professional communicates with a colleague but fails to verify whether that colleague has actually received the message and understood it as well. This is a common blunder that leads to many mistakes. 

Even when students are completing their nursing courses in Canada, they are asked to work on their communication skills. Using verbal and written communication helps in collaborating with other nurses and healthcare professionals for developing a team dynamic. 

2. Transparency: Make sure that you establish transparency on your team by being honest with the other nurses and your patients. When you are transparent, teamwork can be promoted effectively. 

You can also practice transparency by taking detailed chart notes for each patient and regularly checking in with your nursing team to confirm the status of various priorities. 

3. Role clarification: You can classify and clarify roles for improving team collaboration. When you form a system, you confirm that everyone is accomplishing their assigned tasks without any accidental overlap of responsibilities. 

When everybody in the team knows which role they have to complete, it becomes easy to find important information and prioritize tasks accordingly. 

4. Following Up: You can reach out to other healthcare providers and follow up about patient care so that accountability can be improved. Healthcare settings work with high volumes of patients. This is why it is important to take initiative and track progress. 

Make sure that you update your colleagues when you complete a task and follow up with them when working together for treating other patients. Following up with colleagues and healthcare providers can help your team stay organized. 

5. Supporting Each Other: The team members within a nursing unit should never feel reluctant to ask for support. This goes specifically for the newly hired nurses who have just graduated from registered nursing programs. 

New nurses can often start thinking that if they ask for support, it might look like they are unable to cope with their work. Any failure to offer or ask for support results in undue stress. Hence, nursing staff needs to feel that it is acceptable to ask for support in an overwhelming situation. 

Conclusion: 

The nursing profession is run by teams that communicate and collaborate effectively while offering healthcare services. Teamwork helps in empowering the nursing professionals to save lives and offer effective healthcare services. 

Nursing professionals should implement methods that can be effortlessly embedded into their practice. This will improve team performance, safety, and patient care. 

Why are Nursing Internships Important?

 Studying nursing is a comprehensive endeavour involving many aspects enhancing overall learning. As much as theoretical knowledge is considered a fundamental part of completing a nursing course in Canada, gaining practical experience is necessary as well. While you are studying to become a nurse, it is important to realize the significance of a nursing internship.  Just like all other professions, experience and knowledge are the basis on which success is dependent. A nursing internship is capable of offering both. Nursing internships may not always be paid and this can often discourage some students. However, it is way more important to remember that the experience of nursing internships is of higher value as compared to the money.  When you are in nursing school, there are chances that you may not see a patient’s progression of healthcare. However, when you are interning, you will be able to see the care that the patient receives first-hand while also seeing the medical teams working to offer the best possible care. Working with professionals prepares the nurses for a good start.  In this blog, we will know why nursing internships are considered important. Let’s start by understanding the meaning of nursing internship and how it can give an edge to a nursing career.  What is a Nursing Internship?  A nursing internship is a period where students completing their nursing education are exposed to the real-world experience of working in a clinical setting. It offers clinical training and a reliable experience of direct patient care. The interns can work under the direct supervision of a registered nurse while also learning from entry-level nursing skills in a secure environment.  Typically, the students intern during their academic year while completing programs at nursing colleges in Canada. A nursing internship is one of the best ways to prepare yourself as a new nurse.  Internships Give an Edge to Nursing Career:  When you study nursing in Canada, there will be many factors to think about. In addition to the everyday classes and practical learning, there is also a need to think about the future when you will be employed as a nurse.  The transition that you make from a nursing student to a professional nurse can be exciting yet overwhelming in many ways. However, if you do your nursing internships at the right time then this transition can be easy. It takes away doubts, fears, uncertainties, and also helps you land your first job easily.  Nursing internships offer students an understanding of the working structure and hands-on learning experiences. This structure and learning experience reflects real-world jobs and builds on nursing school clinicals, which eventually offer the nursing students a benefit in the first job. The students who intern get an idea of what to expect at the job because they have already done the same before.  All interns are normally assigned to coaches who are registered nurses in the department where the interns are working. The nursing interns are supposed to practice under the supervision of their coach. Nursing interns also gain a chance of gaining a mentor because of this working relationship.  All in all, the nursing internships create a seamless avenue for the recruitment of students, offering a steady stream of new nurse recruitments. Nurses with additional experience as students along with enhanced communication and teamwork skills are always preferred for the jobs.   Benefits of Nursing Internships: 

1. Gaining Real-World Experience: Gaining knowledge in the classrooms and learning from books are the two common methods for students when they complete their nursing education. That said, the practical experiences are completely different. 

As a nurse, one must develop a detailed knowledge and understanding of people from diverse backgrounds. A nurse does not just collaborate with medical professionals to work for the patients. An important part of the nursing profession is communicating with other professionals such as cleaners, chemists, receptionists, etc.  During the nursing internships, a student learns multiple processes that need to be carried out in a healthcare environment. They learn to help with administering injections, IV lines, ordering medications, taking samples, and much more.  A nursing internship is an excellent way to witness a patient from the time of hospital admittance to the time of recovery and discharge. Nursing internships offer excellent learning experiences that form a blueprint of working as a professional nurse. 

1. Collaborating With Senior Nurses: When it comes to learning then there is no better way than to learn from senior professionals in your own field. When you intern, you get a golden chance to collaborate with senior nurses and other medical professionals. These professionals are experienced and help you with many problems that may arise on the job. 

With dedication, observation skills, and an appetite to learn, collaboration with senior nurses can be extremely beneficial. They are the best teachers because they have been doing what you are starting to do for a long time. As an intern, you can expect the senior nurses to clear all your doubts because of past experiences.  Moreover, work experience with a broad healthcare team also enables you to understand the roles and responsibilities of the professionals. Nursing interns should ask as many questions as possible while paying attention to the relationship among the team members. 

1. Finding and Learning from a Mentor: A nursing internship is a proven method to look for a mentor who can lead you through an early nursing career. Many senior nurses readily become a mentor with the intention to teach you everything they know. They teach you how to create a secure healing environment for the patients and their families. 

Other than this, a mentor also becomes a good reference in the future when you are on the job hunt. The nursing students should focus on maintaining a good relationship with the nurses and other medical professionals that they interact with each day. These relationships become important down the line.  Your nursing education will be empowered exponentially when you prioritize maintaining valuable relationships with medical professionals. This way, you will also be able to network better, which can benefit you when you look for jobs, advice, and assistance in your career. 

1. Gaining Confidence: Internships enable you to acquire confidence in various clinical settings. A nursing internship is like a professional learning experience so nursing students should know that it is alright to ask questions. All of us begin somewhere so one must not feel anxious or worried in case a skill is not mastered right away. 

When you study nursing in Canada, the theoretical concepts can be learned practically when you meet real patients. This is going to increase your confidence and familiarity in the medical field.  The first-hand experience will also become important when you finally look for a full-time nursing job. There are multiple things that can be learned while you are on the job so you must ensure that you are willing to try and learn new skills. 

1. Exposing Yourself to Various Clinical Areas: While in the nursing college in Canada, a student may learn different patient care practices. However, when it comes to the real job, there are many specialties and each one follows different processes for treating the patients. 

Collecting blood samples from patients can in fact take some practice when it comes to older adults and children as they might be comparatively less cooperative. At the time of a nursing internship, students get a chance to know more about different nursing specialities.  In addition, a nursing intern can also work at different healthcare facilities such as nursing homes and laboratories. All the work experiences collectively converge to offer various hands-on experiences that help in choosing the area of medicine that suits the student. 

1. Improving Professional Behaviour: Pursuing a nursing course in Canada implies that you will be required to spend a good amount of time with your patients and staff. This means that you must develop the professional skills needed to do the same. Although all jobs need skills, in a profession such as nursing, it becomes essential. 

Nursing is based on effective teamwork and communication. Although most colleagues are easy to work with, there are work challenges that take the best out of your colleagues as well. This is right where professionalism comes into place and helps you perform your role no matter what the situation may be.  Nursing internships are an effective way to learn about clinical skills and soft skills such as communication, balancing duties, professional behaviour, and much more. Mastering all these skills increases your job opportunities and also improves your career progression exponentially.  Conclusion:  A nursing internship can enable you to familiarize yourself with a professional environment and it can even lead to a future job in the best-case scenario. Many employers also use the internship pool to choose their prospective employees.  Hence, nursing students must make the most out of all professional internship opportunities. Remember to also make as many professional connections as possible while leaving a lasting impression on the co-workers because that helps in the long run.