Nursing is not only about caring for a patients physical needs, there is also a huge amount of communication with the patient, relatives and colleagues. If you are part of the leadership team then you will need to hone your skills in talking to your colleagues to get the best out of them.

Effective Communication Strategies for Nurse Managers

For nurse managers, successful leadership and staff management means establishing a culture of communication in their unit. Not only do they represent and support their nursing staff and oversee unit-based operations but they also act as communicators responsible for effectively relaying messages related to staffing, employee satisfaction, patient safety, overall care quality, customer satisfaction, and budgeting.

It is important to note that for successful communication to take place (where the parties involved not only understand the message but also create and share meaning with each other), there has to be harmony between non-verbal cues such as body language as well as tone of voice, and actual words.

Often the patient or family member can become challenging and agressive as they come to terms with the situation facing them. As a nurse, dealing with type of conflict takes care and skill.

De-escalation skills for nurses.

On December 10, 2013

The de-escalation of a patient or family member becoming aggressive within the hospital setting is perhaps one of the most challenging situations we will encounter as nurses.

It takes well tempered clinician with good communication skills and strong sense of self awareness to manage any personal provocation, emotional challenges and professional deprecation that often accompanies such encounters.

The most effective de-escalators have been found to have the following skills:

Honesty.
Confidence.
Non-judgemental.
A permissive non-authoritarian manner.
Ability to empathise.

This is all easier said than done.

I am going to give you some practical tips and strategies to manage an aggressive person within the hospital setting.

Think of your response-ability as a skill that you can develop and improve with reflection and mental rehearsal just as with any other emergency scenario.

Communication as a nurse is an important part of the skill set and any opportunity you get to work on this skill is worth taking.