For healthcare supervisors, effective communication is essential to provide the highest level of care. Effective communication allows healthcare supervisors and their employees to effectively coordinate, make better decisions, become more efficient and streamlines the various operations that occur within the workplace. To foster effective communication, every healthcare supervisor needs to implement the necessary tools; what are those tools? Let’s explore them.
Tool 1: Active Listening
Active listening is often known as the most effective level of listening, requiring focus, intent and a feeling for whoever the speaker is. Active listening is often indicated by both verbal and non-verbal means such as asking questions, maintaining eye contact or reflecting the speaker’s words or emotions.
· Patient Care: One of the most common causes of error or unintentional harm towards patients is ineffective communication and poor listening skills. Active listening is essential when caring for patients, In an article from The University of Minnesota they state: “Active listening is crucial because it cuts down on communication gaps while helping patients and providers alike feel like they are genuinely heard.”
· Management: Outside of patient-provider interactions, active listening is integral to leading and managing well. Active listening allows healthcare supervisors to listen to and to understands the concerns of their staff and is also beneficial when communicating and coordinating with business partners, insurance companies or even other healthcare providers.
Tool 2: Empathy
Arguably the most important tool, empathy sits at the core of every effective patient-centered care model. In healthcare settings, empathy is making an effort to truly understand a patient and to treat them with respect and care in an authentic manner.
· Patient Care: As mentioned earlier, taking time to understand patients and their experiences helps healthcare staff provide the best care that they can. By making empathy a priority and ensuring that empathy is ingrained into the care that is provided, patient satisfaction, participation and investment will increase.
· Management: In similar fashion, empathy can help staff feel valued and understood. Empathetic communication helps build a compassionate work culture where staff feels as though they are welcome and belong. In the workplace, team cohesiveness drives forward progress and productivity, both essential for a successful healthcare organization.
Tool 3: Clarity
As mentioned earlier, ineffective communication is the most common cause of error in the healthcare world. Another way to be ineffective as a communicator is to be too imprecise. As a healthcare supervisor, being clear and easy to understand is especially important.
· Patient Care: Healthcare managers must knowledgeable and use language that communicates policies, procedures and expectations. A patient should be able to discern everything about the care that they are being provided, being clear is vital for this.
· Management: Similarly, being clear and precise is required when communicating with staff, potential business partners, regulatory bodies and more. As a healthcare supervisor, there should never be any doubt in regard to what one party expects from another or with how compliance with potential regulations will be met.