The following guest post from Enclara Pharmacia is
adapted from their recent ebook, Cultivating Care: Prioritizing Hospice Nurse
Learning and Development, which is available as a free
download on the Enclara website.
Two of the top priorities for hospice providers today are improving
nurse retention and advancing health equity. While these are both complicated
issues that call for a variety of interventions, there is at least one area
where they intersect: interpersonal communication.
Perhaps because nursing is a “caring profession,” we tend to
assume interpersonal communication comes naturally to nurses. However, research
suggests that nurses are more or less in line with the general public when it
comes to overall emotional intelligence, including social skills.
Hospice nurses are well aware that they have room for
improvement. In a 2019 survey, 70 percent desired more communication training.
Self-perceived deficits in navigating difficult topics with patients and
caregivers were associated with stress and burnout, which can in turn increase
staff turnover.
Interestingly, two of the communication areas palliative
nurses find most difficult are directly related to cultural competency: talking
with patients or families from different cultures and responding to spiritual
concerns. This suggests that incorporating interpersonal communication training
alongside diversity and inclusion initiatives can improve the nurse experience
while also reducing disparities in care for minority communities with
historically lower hospice participation.
For more insights, download Cultivating Care: Prioritizing Hospice Nurse Learning and Development.
- Explore the benefits of nurse education for both quality of care and staff retention
- Prioritize subject matter in technical, operational, interpersonal and clinical domains
- Leverage resources you may already have available to provide maximum value
