Serom Lee 220177090

Reflection

Serom Lee

Student Number: 220177090

HLTH300 Professional Communication Practice

Due date: 10 August 2018

Unit coordinator: Stuart Robertson

University of New England

Word count: 1506

Serom Lee 220177090

This essay is set to reflect on my personal experience in relation to professional

communication practice while working through multidisciplinary teams. This essay will be based on
anecdote that illustrates my practice experience over the course of clinical exposure. The essay will
adopt a reflective framework of Gibbs (1988) to demonstrate critical reflection of the topic of
professional communication. Moreover, challenges surrounding communication that I faced and my
reactions, which seemed to need more improvement to better my professionalism, will be
highlighted. My personal evaluation and analysis on the event, as well own performance will be
further elaborated. The story bears my testimony to the significance of effective communication
mechanics in health professions and explores how I would like to overcome my weakness and
develop and practise strategies in this particular subject of effective communication in nursing.

Like any other profession, students soon to be transitioned to registered nurses in the field
require communication competency to build successful relationships between individuals or groups.
Students also need to function effectively as part of the team in order to bring safe and quality
outcomes to patient care (Fallowfield & Jenkins, 1999; Krautscheid, 2008; Levett-Jones, 2015).

In nursing, I have learnt that effective patient- focused communication between health
professionals is as pivotal as establishing rapport and building mutual respect with patients we are
looking after (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014). This is because nursing involves a continual
interaction and communication occurs at all times (Levett-Jones, 2015). Even more than a half
century ago, Peplau (1988) stated that nursing is the system of interpersonal, interpretive
communication, which supports my view. Recent study of Kourkouta and Papathanasiou (2014) also
emphasises that nursing is performed and ameliorated through professional communication and
interpersonal relations with the proper technique of communication.

I believe effective communication across multiple disciplines pertains to how to express

oneself clearly to-the-point and provide relevant information. Studies show that the use of
interpersonal communication in both personal and professional context, not only benefits the
outcomes of patients, but also improves overall quality of work environment (Bello, 2017). It is
known for a fact that healthy team communication strategies often lead to an improvement in
morale and job satisfaction among co-workers (Vertino, 2014).

In the healthcare setting, the communication arises in various forms and situations, which
includes writing nurse’s progress notes, endorsing patients to incoming nurses, handing over at the
end of the shift, verifying orders with doctors in person or over the phone, arranging procedures and
requesting laboratory tests with hospital staff (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2016).

Among various means of communication, answering the phone could be the most common
form of communications occurring throughout the shift. However, now I would like to confess my
unhealthy habit of intentionally avoiding picking up the phone by pretending to be occupied at the
nurse’s station in the hospital. This is how my fear in phone communication developed. It was my
first clinical placement as a student nurse in an oncology department. I had an unpleasant
experience on the ward where I answered the phone but I was not able to clearly understand what
the person over the phone was saying. It ended up that I got flustered and strained then handed the
phone over to the person next to me, someone who is experienced and knows the system better
than me. Since then I have developed the fear of answering the phone, known as telephone
apprehension (Fielding, 1990).

The incidents were neglected and forgotten until I came to another placement recently. I
found again that answering phone is considerably stressful. A study found that such behaviour is
Serom Lee 220177090

often referred to telephone phobia, literally “fear of telephones” or telephone apprehension to a

lower extent to telephone phobia syndrome. Interestingly enough, it is also regarded as a type of
social anxiety that impairs communication when a person experiences concerns with speaking or
talking on the phone (Fielding, 1990).

However, when having conversation face to face, besides the phone call, I can perform
perfectly. This is because I strongly hold a view that first impression makes at the first sight lasts. I
maintain eye contact and am attentive to speakers. Moreover, when the ice is broken, it boosts my
confidence, which subsequently leads to smooth and more interactive communication flow no
matter what topics we are discussing.

When I first learned that I have this bizarre habit of avoidance of talking on the phone, I
reflected on what might be the reasons that hinder me from communicating. I thought those
feelings of frustration and awkwardness always have to do with my introvert trait or struggles when
I have to take the initiative to converse with people who I am not familiar with. Another possible
reason is that I tend to become self-conscious that I might misunderstand messages and fail to
respond appropriately in the conversation or make mistake when I transmit patient’s information to
other health care professionals to coordinate with them.

Later on, I realised that what makes conversation over phone particularly difficult for me is
linked to the absence of non-verbal communication cues like gestures and facial expressions over a
phone line. Plenty of studies have revealed that non-verbal expressions weigh largely in people
interpreting others communication (Burgoon, Guerrero, & Floyd, 2016). I also assumed that external
variations like background noise and interruption of the task added more tension to phone
communication in that particular situation. Poor sound quality requires a great deal of concentration
over the phone as I try to engage in conversation. The other factor is distractions. I was in the middle
of doing something before taking the phone call and this could have possibly compounded the
situation while carrying out the other task. A deep-seated fear of picking up the phone has become
more apparent because of the fact that I am discussing a complicated issue with someone that I do
not know much about. Moreover, past experience where there was a need of repetition, in turn
leading to embarrassing silence, still remained as a minor trauma in my head.

Unfortunately, there has been little improvement in this particular communication skill
during the last placement, although I have been trying to make a constant effort to conquer this
telephone phobia by putting myself into the caller’s shoes. Kourkouta and Papathanasiou (2014)
emphasise that the outcome of less performance or lack of practice would have contributed to
ineffective communication skills on top of an innate ability. In fact, I have sought advice from one of
my clinical facilitators as well. To solve this problem, I started to consider the caller as someone who
needs my help, not as a threatening source. This is because effective communication requires not
only the skills, but also the genuine intension of me to understand people’s concerns (Kourkouta &
Papathanasiou, 2014). People who ring the ward often need to access important information or
useful services. Those could be from family members or friends of patient, hospital personnel from
all different departments to someone who simply misdialled. Moreover, I acknowledge that the use
of phone is crucial in my role as I have to independently ring someone for business.

Again, I view collaborative and effective telephone communication as a successful key to

develop and ensure the quality and safety of patient care in the health care context, as supported by
(Buckby & Gordon, 2015). The initial effort that I put on to change my attitude was to elaborate all
the plausible factors, which probably have made my fear of answering the phone so deeply
entrenched over time. Following attempt was to seek advice from seniors and be observant of
Serom Lee 220177090

others who seemed unencumbered with telephone communication and carried on their tasks with
confidence.

I have also learnt that I need to approach this matter in a more specific and attainable
manner so as to improve my overall interprofessional relationships. My desired outcome is to
voluntarily involve myself in receiving and making a call to accommodate people seeking help in
upcoming placement in October 2018. In order to do that, I would need to remain positive to assist
not only patients, but also other health professionals and patients’ family. I should practise
organising my thought and active listening skills to people bringing various topics to the phone
conversation with different accent, intonation despite the absence of non-verbal cues. Next time
around, I would expect myself to be more confident in phone communication with respect and
discretion, maintaining the accuracy of messages.

In conclusion, six elements of Gibbs’s reflective cycle model were introduced to evaluate my
personal experience in relation to the topic of health care professionals’ interprofessional
communication skills in the essay. Gibbs’ model is acknowledged as a valuable tool that facilitates a
higher level of reflection throughout all the phases of the situation encountered. It also encourages
us to create new learning opportunities for improvement and knowledge into actions. Most
importantly, it raises new inquiries to achieve a deeper awareness of my personal values and beliefs
and understanding of the significance of effective interprofessional communication.
Serom Lee 220177090

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