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Abstract: Effective communication between the patient and nurse is an essential requirement for nursing practice and for patient-centered care. Nursing faculty that teach in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs play a significant role in preparing the nursing workforce to communicate effectively and provide patient-centered care. Patient-centered care, interprofessional collaboration, and informatics are necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes for nurses across educational levels in order to meet the needs of patients, and improve the quality and safety of the health care system environment. The focus of this article is to provide information on core nursing competencies for effective communication and to discuss communication tools used in patient-centered care, interprofessional collaboration, and informatics.
Key Words: Communication, Nurse, Patient-Centered Care, Interprofessional Collaboration, Informatics
In the last decade the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has released reports that address quality and safety in health care systems, health professions and nursing (IOM, 1999, 2001,2003a, 2003b, 2010). A core component of quality care is patient-centered care. Patient centered care is care based on a partnership between the patient, their families, and the health care provider that is focused on the patient's values, preferences, and needs. Effective communication between the patient and health professionals is an essential requirement for patientcentered care (IOM, 2001). Furthermore, health professions education should include core competencies in patient-centered care in order to meet the needs of patients and the changing health care system (IOM, 2003a). Nursing faculty play a significant role in preparing the nursing workforce to provide patient-centered care and to communicate effectively. Patientcentered care, interprofessional collaboration, and informatics are necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) for prelicensure nurses and nurses returning for graduate education in order to communicate effectively and to improve the quality and safety of the health care system environment (Cronenwett, et al., 2007; Cronenwett,et al.2009; Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Nurse of the Future Competency Committee, 2010)). This article will synthesize core nursing competencies 3for effective communication and patient-centered care and discuss communication tools used in patient-centered care, interprofessional collaboration, and informatics. Existing communication competencies from nursing and health professional resources are interrelated and important for nursing faculty in curriculum development, and it is equally important for nursing students to comprehend the concept of communication when providing patient-centered care.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
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