HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
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View All ProductsLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
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View All ProductsWe understand the critical importance of earning and maintaining your patients' trust in the delivery of exceptional sedation and surgical outcomes. As a premier provider of healthcare education, we are committed to empowering you in promoting safer, more successful outcomes for each and every patient, without exception.
View All ProductsOur solutions are meticulously designed to cater to the diverse needs of patients, healthcare professionals, and organizations. Within this innovative framework, we have curated specialized subsets of solutions aimed at addressing the ever-evolving challenges faced by individuals dealing with illnesses or chronic conditions.
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Learn MoreThis blog post, focused on interpersonal communication and nursing, continues our series on measuring nurse competency.
Interpersonal communication plays an essential role in healthcare, with a sizeable impact on patient outcomes, as well as a contributor to the experience of the healthcare workplace. According to a 2020 article in the Houston Chronicle, “Clear communication between health care professionals, their colleagues and patients is key. Without strong interpersonal communication processes and skills, grave mistakes can be made that affect the lives of the people involved.”
No one in healthcare needs effective communication more than patients. In many cases, it may be the linchpin for positive outcomes. The UK’s Royal College of Nursing has identified three ways that good communication is a benefit for patients:
There’s a crucial moment in healthcare when interpersonal communication among nurse colleagues plays a vital role—nursing shift changes. Portland Community College singles out the “exchange of patient information during shift changes” as a critical process. A worst-case scenario is when “important information falls through the cracks [and] the risk of patient injuries, death, and malpractice goes up.” There should be organized systems and processes for sharing information, preferably “at the patient's bedside instead of at the nurses’ station” so that patients feel more involved in their own healthcare.
An earlier HealthStream blog post examined the effects of poor communication patterns between nurses and providers. Here are two examples of what can go wrong:
One bad communication pattern happens at stressful times when the staffer offers an overwhelming cascade of information and too quickly. Imagine a patient who is destabilizing. The nurse contacts the physician, providing a rapid-fire account, from vital signs and history to medications give and any recent relevant events prior to the current state. Though the information is important, a lack of logic in its presentation may hamper the provider’s attention and a discount to the nurse’s concerns.
Another common problem involves a nurse hesitant to speak up about a patient problem to be addressed. Linked to the tradition power hierarchy between nurses and physicians, this situation may lead a nurse to feel voiceless and dismissed. Nurses know their patients best. Not listening to them can be a disaster.
The Impact on Patients of Poor Communication
According to Becker’s Health IT, the patient impact from inadequate communication skills is overwhelming. They share that 80% of medical errors, which cause up to 400,000 deaths annually and close to 10,000 serious medical complications daily, result from poor communication during care transitions. Another statistic is that hospitals lose as much as $12 billion annually, representing 2% of revenue, due to poor communication.
If we are going to improve patient outcomes, we have to focus on successful communication as a nurse competency, work to measure it, and develop training to improve it in those lacking adequate skills.
Our blog series about measuring nurse competency was developed to bring attention to all the attributes that contribute to truly competent nursing. In addition to this post, others address:
Ensure Competency of Nursing Staff at Every Level
In today’s value-based healthcare environment, it is more important than ever to be able to eliminate guesswork and develop a standard level of competency across the entire organization. Utilizing proven data to identify development needs is not just a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have. Learn more about HealthStream solutions for nurse competency management.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceBe confident in your staff’s ability to reduce risk by providing compliance training that changes behavior.
View All ProductsDevelop next-level people for next-level care by prioritizing quality and safety improvements.
View All ProductsStandardize policy and procedure management with an automated, customized, and centralized system.
View All ProductsEstablish a culture of belonging with education supporting DEI, wellness, engagement, and leadership development.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementStreamline the revenue cycle management process and protect your bottom line with expert-backed education.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ProductsUnlocking the full potential of clinicians goes beyond aspiration – it’s a commitment we embody. Our competency development solutions help personalize learning for every clinician so you can confidently bridge the gap between theory and practice for your nurse residents while meeting the unique development needs of your seasoned clinician.
View All ProductsEnhance maternal & child nursing care with solutions focused on improving the quality of care for mothers, infants, and children.
View All ProductsAddress staffing challenges, standardize orientation and onboarding, and deliver an effective training program for your team to easily achieve and maintain certification with our critical, emergency, and acute care solutions.
View All ProductsWe understand the critical importance of earning and maintaining your patients' trust in the delivery of exceptional sedation and surgical outcomes. As a premier provider of healthcare education, we are committed to empowering you in promoting safer, more successful outcomes for each and every patient, without exception.
View All ProductsOur solutions are meticulously designed to cater to the diverse needs of patients, healthcare professionals, and organizations. Within this innovative framework, we have curated specialized subsets of solutions aimed at addressing the ever-evolving challenges faced by individuals dealing with illnesses or chronic conditions.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All SchedulingHealthcare workforce management is essential. We provide advanced scheduling solutions for organizations to solve issues such as nurse retention
View All ProductsComprehensive, industry-leading provider onboarding and credentialing software that validate health outcomes and support provider assessment.
View All CredentialingOur affordable CVO credentialing services establish patient safety by enabling primary source verification for your healthcare organization.
View All ProductsIntegrate with Epic to validate and add new providers directly to your provider master file.
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