A Professional Communication Report

This report’s objectives are to study professional communication theories in midwifery and to offer updates on the evaluation of communication-related factors. The report focuses on the particular components and regions of midwifery where changes are watched, good and bad advancements are noted, and justifications for variances are given. For the improvements, a justification is given, and the actions that resulted in these positive changes are examined, whilst for the shortcomings or areas where deterioration is observed, alternative improvement strategies are presented and addressed. The report is an exercise in boosting professional communication which is the exchange of data or information orally, in writing or electronic form at the workplace. Good communication skills are part of the defining qualities of a good midwife and professional. According to Byrt, the concepts of communication in midwifery include; empathy, active listening, understanding of the woman’s needs good choice and timing of the appropriate questions, non-judge mentalism and proper management of embarrassing situations in the course of communication between the midwife and the woman (Byrt, Hart, & James-Sow, p.127-150).

The Various Theories of Communication Employed in the Exercise and Report

Communication theories are simply frameworks that define how communication happens between individuals or among a group of people and its perceived patterns and effects. The cognitive learning theory a targeted internal process and focuses on thinking internalizing and organizing consciousness, it is determined by a person’s capacity to respond. Questioning and exploration is key to learning, according to cognitive theorists (Shafakhah, Zarshenas, Sharif & Sarvestani, p.323-328). This theory played a part in the improvements and deteriorations in my communication skills during the ten weeks as shall be discussed in subsequent sections. There were sections of the questionnaire that required cognitive skills and thus were amply covered by this rationale. Secondly, there is the behavioral learning theory which envisions learning as a change in social behavior that is a response to a stimulus, an observable characteristic. Reinforcement plays a significant role in encouraging or discouraging an acquired characteristic. (Shafakhah, et al, p.323-328). This theory is helpful in determining the rationale behind my improvements and deteriorations as per the survey. Finally, is the humanistic theory by Abraham Maslow which proposes that the need for self-actualization motivates an individual to keep learning so that he/ she shall eventually strive for self-fulfillment and actualization. He categorized the human needs in a pyramid with basic needs of food, cloth, and shelter at the bottom, while self-actualization at the top of the human needs, a state where the individual has reached a deeper understanding of their inner self and no longer is bothered by the needs of lower hierarchy in the pyramid (Aliakbari, Parvin, Heidari, & Haghani, p. 90)

Areas Where Improvement was Noted

Describing how professional communication influences therapeutic relationships saw an improvement from a hard task to a very simple task within the survey period. This improvement was largely due to the fact that I got more experience in the cognitive and behavioral areas of the midwifery profession to the extent that it became intuitive talking with the patients and explaining the academic content to them in a manner familiar with their circumstances and environments. This is in line with the cognitive theory as well as the behavioral learning theory highlighted in the preceding section (Byrt, Hart, & James-Sow, p.127-150). The cognitive theory helps explain the internal brain functioning responsible for my quick grasp of the academic underpinnings of associating professional communication and therapeutic relationships. Secondly, the behavioral theory comes in where I was able to interact with patients and experts in the field and thus gradually found it easy to associate certain professional behavior with various therapies.

The second area where improvement was noted is in explaining how personal values influence professional communication. There was an improvement in this area due to the fact that by the fourth week, I had a better understanding of myself and a clearer grasp of the course. This is in tandem with the humanistic theory by Abraham Maslow as highlighted above. As I progressed in my studies and experience, I got knowledgeable and understood the field better thus helping me establish my personal values and how they influenced my professional communication. I came to terms with certain stereotypes such as the belief that midwives are unhygienic and started understanding things from their point of view. This went a long way in helping improve the ease of the task from hard to easy.

The third area where improvement was noted is in the demonstrating skills that encourage women to self-disclose about themselves to a midwife or health professional. This encompasses proving to the patients that they can trust the midwives with details of their lives they would otherwise be uncomfortable revealing to strangers. Improvement in this area was driven by the fact that I had tackled the topics in the area and as such I was conversant with aspects such as communication etiquette, empathy, sympathy and confidence which are aspects of communication that help make the client or patient at home and foster a rapport that encourages the women to open up to the physician, clinician or the midwife. This is in tandem with the behavioral learning theory and the cognitive theory. The part about learning from the course material is covered by the former theory while the latter covers the aspects learned through observing the women’s behavior.

The Ability to choose and use different types of questions when communicating with women/families saw an improvement from being a hard task to a very simple task. This is achieved when the midwife is able to recognize the different communication needs of different women, for example, gender identity, spirituality, sexual orientation or ethnic group of the woman. The same is extended to the family, sensitivity, and maturity in the communication was paramount to the improvement. After having gone through the preceding activities on the questionnaire, this improvement came naturally and can be described by the behavioral learning method.

Selecting the appropriate lexical choice when communicating to women or families improved from hard to a very simple task due to the experience gained in the preceding weeks. This is the proper choice of the terms and vocabulary according to the midwife’s specific audience. Finally, knowing what to do to minimize embarrassment when it is likely to be a problem to the midwife or health worker and the woman. This improvement occurred due to the fact that I learned the various aspects of gender sensitivity which is consistent with the cognitive learning theory.

Learning Activities

To achieve the above improvements, several learning activities were engaged in such as rehearsing the conversations with the women and families to instill confidence while in the field. Secondly, I read through course material to ensure that I was conversant with the material that I was going to discuss so that I would be confident in what I was discussing with the mothers. The third activity was a brief reconnaissance prior to every field study which helped familiarize me with the surroundings and environments that I would be operating in. this went a long way in ensuring my composure and comfort in these areas on the days of the real fieldwork (Taghizadeh, Rezaiepour, Mehran & Alimoradi, p.47-55).

Areas That Have Reported No Change or Lack of Improvement and Rationale

These are the remaining areas that were largely stagnant in terms of progress which means one of two things; I was comfortable with how I handled the matters or I was yet to learn how to effectively tackle these matters. The areas where there was no improvement were largely in areas of communication, understanding, and relating to the women which were caused by a number of factors that were uniform across the questions. Unlike the improvement which had a relatively high degree of specificity, the lack of change had similar causes that were interrelated and had ripple effects (Byrt, Hart, & James-Sow, p.127-150). These aspects are discussed in the subsequent section.

Prejudgment by the midwife is one of the factors that contributed to poor performance. Disclosure of the midwife’s stands on certain sensitive matters before the patients can be damaging and hinder progress (McKenna and Slevin, p. 145). It is important to maintain a calm and neutral perspective since the exercise is not about the midwife but the women. Due to prejudgment, for example, the capacity to effectively empathize is compromised (Berridge, Mackintosh, & Freeth, p. 512-519).

Inappropriate self- disclosure is the second aspect that resulted in poor performance, for example, disclosing to a woman that it is the midwife’s first time performing a procedure may arouse the anxiety in the woman (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, p.65-67). While saying the truth is important in the relationship between parties, how it is said and what is said matters. The third aspect was the inadequate expression empathy which eroded the trust of mothers in midwives (Shafakhah et al, p.323-328). Where the midwife fails to clearly convey their understanding of the mother’s position and situation makes the mothers feel misunderstood and sometimes they end up thinking their needs will not be met adequately. An insecure mother will not openly point to her situation but will instead choose to circumvent the matter in the hope of hiding their embarrassment, This, unfortunately, leads to wrong diagnosis and ineffective help from the midwives. These were elements that contributed to poor performance and lack of improvement, however, they can be combated in future through the tactics discussed below.

Learning Strategies That Can Be Used in The Future to Ensure Improvement

Demonstrating empathy appropriately is helpful in helping the communication between the mothers and the midwives. Empathy is described as the deliberate attempt to understand the feelings of the patient. This enables the patient to open up to the health worker about the state of their health without fear of being misunderstood (Brooks & Scott, P.26). Secondly, understanding the different needs of the different women facilitates easier communication with each woman individually (Brooks and Scott, p.59). This includes identification of the need of a translator for the case of a woman who may not speak the English in an environment where English is predominantly spoken.

Employing features of effective listening to improve communication with the women, for example; Listening keenly with as minimal interruption as possible. Asking leading questions where necessary to guide the respondents to give the desired answers. Promoting the women to tell the midwife more by stating such conversation builders as “Tell me more”. Maintaining proper eye contact with the woman as well as maintaining the professional tone are also very useful tips in building on the listening skills of a midwife (Byrt, Hart, & James-Sow, p.127-150).

The fourth element is appropriate disclosure, deliberately disclosing information by the midwives and nurses helps the women feel empathy from the midwives. For example, a midwife caring for a woman with a dyslexic child could reveal to the woman this information (Kourkouta, & Papathanasiou, p.65-67). In this case, the woman will feel empathized with and they will not be shy to reveal their experiences, fears, and expectations of their dyslexic child, this way, the midwife will extract useful information from the mother that can be used to help her care for her baby better. Self-disclosure is an important art of human communication as it helps tackle shyness amongst the patients and makes them more open to the health workers.

Finally, adherence to the regulations stipulated in the Nursing and Midwifery council standards and codes of conduct, including the performance and ethics for the nurses stating that the nurses shall make the care of people their first concern, treating them as individuals and respecting their dignity, and not discriminating against anyone. This is a basic element that is vital in improvement while dealing with the patients.

Reference

Aliakbari, F., Parvin, N., Heidari, M., & Haghani, F. (2015). Learning theories application in nursing education. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 4, 2. http://doi.org/10.4103/2277-9531.151867

Berridge, E.J., Mackintosh, N.J. and Freeth, D.S., 2010. Supporting patient safety: Examining communication within delivery suite teams through contrasting approaches to research observation. Midwifery, 26(5), pp.512-519.

Brooks, F. and Scott, P., 2006. Knowledge work in nursing and midwifery: An evaluation through computer-mediated communication. International journal of nursing studies, 43(1), pp.83-97.

Byrt, R., Hart, L., and James-Sow, L., 2008. Patient empowerment and participation: barriers and the way forward. Kettles AM, Woods P, Byrt R, Addo M, Coffey M, Doyle M, National Forensic Nurses’ Research and Development Group (eds) Forensic Mental Health Nursing: Capabilities, Roles, and Responsibilities. London: Quay Books, MA Healthcare, pp.127-150.

Kourkouta, L., & Papathanasiou, I. V. (2014). Communication in Nursing Practice. Materia Socio-Medica, 26(1), 65–67. http://doi.org/10.5455/msm.2014.26.65-67

McKenna, H.P., and Slevin, O. (2008). Nursing Models, Theories, and Practice. Chichester. Blackwell.

Shafakhah, M., Zarshenas, L., Sharif, F., & Sarvestani, R. S. (2015). Evaluation of Nursing Students’ Communication Abilities in Clinical Courses in Hospitals. Global Journal of Health Science, 7(4), 323–328. http://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v7n4p323

Taghizadeh, Z.I.B.A., Rezaiepour, A., Mehran, A.B.A.S. and Alimoradi, Z., 2007. Usage of communication skills by midwives and its relation to clients’ satisfaction. Journal of hayat, 12(4), pp.47-55.