Question

1. You are a nurse caring for a wide variety of patients in a medical-surgical unit. Understanding the importance of effective communication in developing a helping-trust relationship with your patients, you continually strive for optimum communication. Today, you are providing care for a 32-year-old teacher who is blind from birth, and just had surgery for the creation of a temporary colostomy. (Learning Objectives 1 and 4) 1. Using Berlo's description as the template, which aspects of communication are most impacted by this patient's challenge? 2. Which channels of communication are available to facilitate communication in this case? 3. Describe how this challenge would impact communication throughout treatment Outline 1 4. How would your patient's challenge affect your use of nonverbal communication? 5. Outline strategies that could restore effective communication despite the patient's challenge. 6. What is the relationship between communicating with a patient with blindness and the nursing process?

Answer 1

1. Berlo's communication model includes several aspects of communication, including the source of the message, the message itself, the channel of communication, the receiver of the message, and feedback. In this case, the patient's blindness would significantly impact the channel of communication, as visual cues and nonverbal communication may not be available. Additionally, the patient's recent surgery and adjustment to a colostomy may impact their ability to receive and process information, which could impact their feedback to the nurse.
2. The channels of communication available to facilitate communication in this case may include verbal communication, tactile communication (such as touch), and auditory communication (such as listening to the patient's tone of voice or breathing patterns).
3. Throughout the treatment process, the patient's challenge with blindness may require additional communication strategies, such as providing detailed verbal descriptions of procedures, using tactile cues to help the patient anticipate a touch or procedure, and offering written materials in large print or braille to supplement verbal communication.
4. Nonverbal communication may be impacted by the patient's challenge, as visual cues such as facial expressions and body language may be less important or less noticeable to the patient. The nurse may need to rely more heavily on auditory cues, such as tone of voice and inflection, to convey information and provide emotional support to the patient.
5. Strategies that could restore effective communication despite the patient's challenge may include using clear and simple language, using repetition and paraphrasing to reinforce important information, offering different types of written and verbal materials to supplement communication, and enlisting the help of family members or interpreters to facilitate communication.
6. Communicating with a patient with blindness is an important component of the nursing process, as effective communication is critical for establishing trust, promoting patient safety and understanding patient needs. Nurses must consider the patient's specific communication needs and adapt their communication strategies to ensure effective communication throughout the nursing process.