Communication and Persuasion in the field of Operation
Nursing
From soothing words in a time of distress to throwing
surgical utensils, Operation Room Nursing has a broad spectrum of communication.
One communication problem that the medical field has is verbal abuse in the operating
room. Nurses and other medical professionals are trying to remedy this
communication problem.
Many nurses report having been verbally demeaned while at work. This abuse comes in part because of the stressful situations that nurses and staff are placed under. The Kairos is setting a verbal time bomb and the hierarchy in the hospitals creates the exploitation. Many times nurses are degraded by their superiors such as doctors, surgeons and teachers. Luckily these stigmas are starting to change. Professionalism with coworkers and patients is starting to be extremely emphasized in the workplace.
If any of you have seen the movie House you will understand the
kinds of communication problems that develop in a medical environment. House
(the main character) is a really sarcastic, degrading doctor who treats
everyone around him poorly. Although he is a hot head he isn’t immediately
fired because he is brilliant and irreplaceable. The problems his coworkers
face in the movie although a little over-dramatized are similar to the
communication and intimidation problems that happen in hospitals today.
The use of intimidation as a form of persuasion is at times
effective but has many negative consequences. This abuse often come from those
with medical ethos. Their credibility makes them feel like they can act in any
particular manner they chose. Although this isn’t a problem in every hospital it
happens more often than it should. There are many other form of persuasion that
can make nurses and staff work just as effectively.
On the bright side nurses and hospital staff us persuasion
for many good reasons. For example nurses may use logos, a logical explanation
to convince a patient to undergo an essential procedure. They will also use pathos
to comfort a family who has just lost a loved one.
Overall nursing is
based on a strong foundation of communication and persuasion. Working with
recovering surgical patient I was able to see the true power of persuasion.
Some patient needed a lot of delicately worked enticements in order to perform
a specific task while other had self-motivation. Many days I would have to talk
to a patent for ten plus minutes before finally convincing them that they could
do something. While doing so often I would have to pull out all the stops,
logos, ethos, and pathos, anything to convince my patient. Through these experience
I not only became more patient person but also a more persuasion person. I
believe that a nurse need to be a masters of persuasions and communication. 
Super interesting to see that prideful form of "ethos" and how it alters communication and persuasion. It's a form of rhetoric, but not very well used. Nursing is so hard on a communication level because of the varying needs for families and patients and even coworkers and doctors, so I'm super interested to see more of your posts!
ReplyDeleteIt's different to see that there's a dark side to this sort of communication. People stop caring about how they represent themselves when they won't lose anything from it.
ReplyDeleteAh, rhetoric. So powerful--but, to quote Uncle Ben, "with great power comes great responsibility". As we've discussed in class, rhetoric can be turned to an "evil art form". Sounds like some doctors are really good at using words and their own ethos to intimidate.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting to see this take on nursing. I guess I didn't realize how much negativity came from the doctors to the nurses. There is so much more going on with communicaton in the medical world than we even know about. There's so much pressure and stress, everything is that much more important to be said in an effective way.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting to see this take on nursing. I guess I didn't realize how much negativity came from the doctors to the nurses. There is so much more going on with communicaton in the medical world than we even know about. There's so much pressure and stress, everything is that much more important to be said in an effective way.
ReplyDelete