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Patient Communication Essay

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In my profession communication is key when it comes to caring for my patients. I communicate multiple times throughout the day with multiple people such as my coworkers, doctors, supportive staff, and even case workers. As a nurse I am with my patients for 12 hours of the day while others may only see them once a day for less than an hour. That is why many staff workers rely on my communicating with them, so that we can all better care for the patients. Although, oral communication with others is a big part of my day, I am also required to chart everything that has occurred with my patients. Charting is a very vital form of communication in all medical fields. While a patient is receiving care in a hospital their charts are like their stories. …show more content…
I had a patient who had to be NPO for a colonoscopy she would be receiving on Tuesday in 3D. The doctor had communicated with the previous nurse to start the patient on her bowel prep on Monday afternoon, and make her NPO after midnight. On Tuesday morning my patient had nothing to eat or drink since midnight and was all ready for her test. A few hours went by and I still did not hear anything from 3D. I called the floor to verify that my patient was still going for her test that day. They informed me that they were booked for whole day of Tuesday and could not fit her in until Wednesday. This however, was not communicated with the doctor when he originally booked the test. Because they failed to communicate with the doctor about the insufficient space. My patient had to have another bowel prep that afternoon, and she was not very happy. Had 3D communicated with the doctor that could not fit the patient into their schedule for Tuesday, he would have scheduled for her to be prepped Tuesday afternoon. By not communicating effectively we not only wasted resources, we also failed the patient by making her prep for two days straight, and prolonging her

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