Jargon appears in many industries, from IT to healthcare. Some professionals frown upon its use, as it can create much confusion if all parties don’t understand the terminology, acronyms, or abbreviations. This is sometimes the case in interactions between patients and healthcare practitioners. However, it does serve a great communication purpose for the professionals in the field.
To help cater to patients’ needs, it often falls to nurses to bridge the gap and keep patients informed. This includes explaining diagnoses or clarifying concepts if patients have queries after physician consultations.
So, what is the best way to navigate jargon in today’s healthcare industry? This article will give insight into how nurses can acquire skills and improve patient experiences for the benefit of all.
Miscommunications in healthcare
Patient care requires a lot of information, from test data to patient backgrounds and more. Then, treatments, such as medication dosages and frequency of testing to monitor progress, must be communicated. Unfortunately, miscommunication can occur, even just in patients finding it difficult to explain their health problems for a diagnosis.
Furthermore, not all healthcare practitioners are initially skilled at communication. This can lead to complications, as misunderstanding their doctor’s instructions can alter how a patient administers medication or self-care. Medical jargon adds to the problem, and it’s an area where nurses can play an important role in preventing unnecessary problems.
Jargon: Why does it exist?
The existence of jargon is not a problem. Rather, it’s a tool that helps healthcare workers perform their duties faster and more efficiently. With standardized terms and phrases that all doctors and nurses understand, they can communicate information much quicker, which is vital in the fast-paced healthcare industry.
The challenge comes when some of these words and phrases creep in during discussions with patients or a patient hears the healthcare team discuss their condition using technical terms and medical jargon. For a patient, this can make a case seem much more serious than it is or simply create concern and uncertainty about what exactly is going on.
With nurses playing a hands-on role in patient care, they have the privilege of clarifying this jargon to patients through efficient communication. However, this is also an important responsibility, as the message a patient receives can affect how they follow instructions and even their mood. All of this can affect their health.
This proves the value of nurses who can effectively communicate, create a safe patient environment, improve patient experiences, and serve as ‘translators’ of medical jargon.
Common jargon patients often hear
Even basic concepts in patient care can seem mysterious and overwhelming when patients hear professionals talk about them. The following terms may come across in a discussion without any context or knowledge of the topic:
- Abd: abdomen.
- CBR: complete bed rest.
- HOB: head of bed.
- DX: diagnosis.
- TPR: temperature, pulse, respiration.
- NPO: nothing by mouth.
A simple phrase that doesn’t refer to anything life-threatening can sound serious when jargon and medical acronyms are used.
Vital communication concepts that impact the patient experience
When nurses become more aware of the many ways in which they communicate with patients, it becomes easier to ensure the patient has the correct information. Here are some communication concepts nurses can consider whenever they are interacting with someone in their care.
Verbal communication
A nurse’s words to a patient are their first tool to clarify jargon. Using language the patient will understand, rather than the jargon used between doctors and nurses, healthcare professionals can provide more insight on a treatment, diagnosis, or other topic. With verbal communication, nurses must make it possible for patients to correctly decode the spoken message and gain an accurate understanding. This requires the nurse to use language the patient is familiar with.
Active listening
The patient’s experience is about much more than obtaining information from doctors and nurses. When visiting a healthcare professional, many patients feel vulnerable, as they face situations that are beyond their control. Hearing jargon used between healthcare practitioners can make the unknown even more stressful.
A nurse can listen to their concerns and repeat these back to them (active listening), to prove that they grasp the patient’s need or inquiry. By making them feel understood, they feel safer and better cared for. This can make them more receptive to what healthcare practitioners require of them going forward. Therefore, nurses creating a safe patient environment has a ripple effect that impacts patients, doctors, and even recovery times.
Non-verbal communication
Even while using the proper language to explain medical concepts, nurses must not underestimate the message they’re sending with their eyes and bodies. Their words may tell a patient not to worry about a diagnosis, but if their body language shows that they are stressed, the patient may think that the nurse is only trying to give them hope. Or, if the nurse does not look them in the eyes, they may not believe and accept what they are trying to communicate.
Efficient ways to improve nurse-patient communication
Nurses carry a lot of responsibility when it comes to helping patients navigate their healthcare journeys. As nurses handle activities like wound dressings and taking medical history, they spend more time with patients than some doctors do. For patients, this makes nurses a primary source of information. To help patients understand industry jargon, here’s what nurses can do.
Ask rather than assume
A patient expressing that they understand what their nurse or a doctor told them doesn’t prove that they really grasp the situation. If the healthcare team used technical jargon while talking to the patient, they may be making assumptions using their limited understanding of certain terminology.
Nurses can start by asking a patient to explain in their own words what they think the condition or treatment is about. This quickly gives the nurse an idea of the jargon that has caused confusion and begin clarifying.
Appropriate language
As nurses explain the technicalities of their situation, they should align their language with the individual they’re treating. Not all patients have the same frame of reference or language skills. Nurses must consciously pick words that the patient will easily understand.
Some practical examples:
- Level of education: professionals may have a better grasp of certain words than someone with no tertiary education.
- Age: Nurses must use simple words when explaining jargon to a child, compared to talking to an adult. They must also decide which information is age-appropriate and what is better to discuss with the parents alone.
- Culture: nurses can learn the patient’s culture and background before explaining technical jargon. They can gauge how fluent the patient is in the language they are using. Then, different cultures may attach different meanings to different words, so nurses may need to ask patients to repeat the explanation back, to gauge whether they understood it correctly.
Use visual aids
The body is a complex system, so patients may find it very difficult to follow a discussion about a disease or treatment. Nurses can use the following to clarify:
- Printed images of limbs, organs, or relevant anatomy.
- Three-dimensional representations of the body.
- X-rays taken during testing.
A digital infographic they can access online, where facts are shown in written form, accompanied by relevant imagery.
Write it down
Giving the patient a pen and paper can help during and after a discussion. Writing down the basics gives the patient something to focus on instead of getting distracted or overwhelmed. Additionally, writing down steps of a process, such as a treatment plan, can ensure they don’t forget anything.
Furthermore, the written notes give the patient a reference point after the nurse leaves. They can read through it again to clarify something they perhaps couldn’t process during the discussion. This also empowers them with relevant terms and words related to their condition or treatment. In turn, this helps them get comfortable using those terms and even formulate questions. A follow-up discussion with notes is more meaningful and helpful to all.
Get a mentor
There may be experienced nurses who would be happy to pass on their knowledge. Newer nurses can simply ask them to share on the topics they need more insight on. This knowledge will help them communicate more efficiently.
They can enquire how experienced nurses convey complicated terminology to patients. Experienced professionals may have suggestions about when to discuss which aspect of a treatment. For example, some patients may first need time to deal with the shock of a diagnosis before they can communicate effectively. Nurses can prevent overwhelming patients with information by choosing their time wisely.
Manage distractions
A hospital or doctor’s office can be a noisy place. When discussing serious topics with patients, nurses must minimize distractions as much as possible. For example, they should switch off the TV when talking in a hospital room. They may also prefer to talk in private and not in a hospital corridor with heavy foot traffic. This reduces the chance of words being misheard.
How to improve a communication skillset
The healthcare industry sees change on a continual basis, from new innovations to newly identified diseases. So, how do nurses stay informed to continue helping patients understand medical terminology?
Further studies
Registered Nurses (RNs) will benefit their careers by pursuing additional training and, thanks to online accessibility, nurses can complete further studies with more time saved from commuting to and from lectures and getting stuck in traffic.
Nurses can earn FNP online qualifications by utilizing programs offered by reputable online institutions. With communication being such an essential skill for nursing, programs are created to improve the student’s ability to collaborate and communicate effectively. For example, in the Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner (MSN-FNP) program at the American International College (AIC), students learn about nursing research, healthcare policies, and concepts of health assessment. In addition, advanced pharmacology concepts also form part of the curriculum, empowering graduates to help their patients understand more about how drugs will impact patients. This can assist patients in decoding jargon, as well as understanding what side effects to expect as part of their treatment.
To take an accredited course like the MSN-FNP, students must make sure they understand the time requirements, so they can plan their schedules around it. They should also find out what software and programs are needed. When students prepare well for a course online, they can achieve much more without putting too much strain on their lifestyle and career.
Self-study
It’s also wise for nurses to invest in literature like a medical dictionary or use glossaries available online. Nurses can only explain to patients once they have a good, accurate grasp of terminology themselves. Therefore, they should ensure their own knowledge of a topic is up to standard, too.
Remember, patients pick up on the mood of healthcare professionals, so if nurses provide care with confidence, they’ll impact patients more positively. The more a nurse reads up on a topic, the more comfortable they will be educating patients. Being comfortable discussing the topic at hand will then help set the patient at ease.
Nurses as the backbone of healthcare
Nurses play an important role in the modern healthcare environment, including acting as ‘translators’ for complex jargon. While any patient can research jargon online, fake news and pages that are not fact checked are common. Nurses ensure that patients have a good grasp of their conditions, so they can work with doctors and other professionals on their roads to recovery.
For nurses, communicating this information with compassion can improve patient experiences and treatment outcomes. So, learning communication skills is a must!
