Barriers to Effective Communication in Healthcare Communication barriers between

Barriers to Effective Communication in Healthcare
Communication barriers between healthcare workers and patients increasingly affect patient care, regardless of whether the care is in a medical office or hospital. Understanding that communication plays a significate role in healthcare is critical for healthcare workers due to the increasing number of culturally diverse populations. In the United States, a second language other than English is spoken at home in one of five households, the highest level since just after World War I (“Strategies for overcoming language barriers in healthcare,” n.d.). Due to the increasing number of patients with limited English speaking skills, we as future healthcare professionals must implement effective and equitable barriers to ensure our patients receive the care they deserve with an understanding of their medical condition. Effective and safe patient care relies on effective teamwork and communication delivered by a team of multidisciplinary healthcare workers.
To improve communication and, ultimately, the quality of healthcare among minority patients, there has been a steady increase in the development of culturally sensitive interventions and training for healthcare staff. As healthcare professionals, we must know and respect all ethical theories and principles in healthcare. To that point, the four principles that’ll help with communication barriers are autonomy, nonmaleficience, beneficence, and justice. One of the many challenges of working in healthcare is adapting to others’ personal beliefs. Having quarterly mandatories on the ethical theories and principles in healthcare will keep the staff informed on how to handle different cultural beliefs regardless of their personal views. In my opinion, these are significant steps on how to improve any communication barriers in healthcare.
Practice-based strategies can be implemented to reduce readmissions for patients who cannot follow orders due to language barriers—for example, hiring more healthcare professionals whose first language is the majority language and hiring a twenty-four-hour medical interpreter service. Medical interpreters are by far the most professional and ethical route to take. Medical interpreters have professional codes of ethics and an understanding of medical terminology, two critical aspects of patients and their family members having a better understanding of how to care for their medical conditions. Active patient participation, problem-solving, and feedback between patients and healthcare workers are critical components of effective healthcare recovery. Although most patients would rather have a family member translate the medical information, there is a concern about how much of the medical terminology is understood by the family member.
References
Strategies for overcoming language barriers in healthcare. (n.d.). PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8697718
Last Name, F. M. (Year). Book Title. City Name: Publisher Name