Communication Skills Lecture Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the definitions, levels, techniques, and factors influencing the communication process within a nursing context.

Communication

The exchange of information, ideas, or thoughts between two or more people involving one party sending a message that is easily understood by the receiving party.

Effective Communication

A two-way street that involves listening to gain the full meaning of what is being said and making the other person feel heard and understood.

Engaged Listening

Listening that involves understanding not just the words or information but also the emotions the speaker is trying to communicate.

Assertiveness

Expressing thoughts, feelings, and needs in an open and honest way while standing up for yourself and respecting others.

Therapeutic Communication

A goal-directed, focused form of dialogue used as a tool in health care to promote a client’s well-being and positive response to treatment.

Intrapersonal Communication

A level of communication that occurs within an individual.

Interpersonal Communication

One-to-one interaction occurring between two people.

Transpersonal Communication

Interaction that occurs within a person’s spiritual domain.

Small Group Communication

Interactions that take place with a small number of people.

Public Communication

Interaction that occurs with an audience.

Active Listening

Being attentive to what the patient is saying both verbally and non-verbally.

Paraphrasing

Restating the patient’s message so that he or she knows that the nurse is listening.

Clarifying

Assessing whether the patient understood the provided information.

Focusing

Directing the conversation to stay on key issues.

Confronting

A therapeutic technique that helps the patient realize his or her inconsistencies in feelings, attitudes, or beliefs.

Context

The physical, social, chronological, or cultural environment in which communication takes place.

Feedback

A component of the communication process that permits the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message and confirm correct interpretation by the decoder.

Proxemics

The study of distance between people in their interactions.

Intimate Distance

Interaction distance characterized by body contact and vocalizations that are low, ranging from touching to $1.5\,feet$.

Personal Distance

Interaction distance where voice tones are moderate and body heat is noticed less, ranging from $1.5\,feet$ to $4\,feet$.

Social Distance

Distance characterized by a clear visual perception of the whole person and louder vocalizations, ranging from $4\,feet$ to $12\,feet$.

Public Distance

Distance requiring loud, clear vocalizations and careful enunciation, ranging from $12\,feet$ to $15\,feet$.

Territoriality

A concept of the space and things that an individual considers as belonging to self.

Congruence

When the verbal and nonverbal aspects of a message match, allowing the client to more readily trust the nurse.

Credibility

A criterion for effective verbal communication meaning worthiness of belief, trustworthiness, and reliability.

Aphasia

Neurological deficits from strokes or other conditions that can be expressive or receptive, affecting communication.

Fatalism

A belief system in which life events are held to be predestined or fixed in advance and the individual is powerless to change them.