Communication process

Goal

Students will be able to define communication process and identify its elements

Intended Learning Outcomes of the Course (ILOs)

1. Attributes:
The student is:
1.1. A critical thinker.
1.2. A culturally oriented person.
1.3. An effective health educator/communicator.
1.4. Establishing professional therapeutic interactions with patient/client and takes
on an advocacy role during their interactions with the health care system.
2. Knowledge and understanding:
2.1. Defining communication .
2.2. Identifying the elements of communication process
2.3. Listing the function of communication in our lives.
2.4. Mentioning the various communication settings
2.5. Discussing the factors influencing the communication process.
3. Practical and Clinical Skills:
3.1. Communicating with others in various settings.
3.2. Using informal and formal methods of teaching appropriate to the
patient/client learning abilities.
4. Intellectual Skills:
4.1. Assessing the elements of the communication process
4.2. Analyzing the personal and environmental factors affecting communication.
4.3. Differentiating between encoding and decoding.
4.4. Distinguishing the various contexts in which the communication can occur.
5. General and Transferable Skills:
5.1. Working effectively with a team.
5.2. Managing effectively time, resources and sets priorities.
5.3. Applying communication skills in interprofessional, social and therapeutic
context.
5.4. Participating in ongoing educational activities related to professional issues.
5.5. Using information technology.
5.6. Using problem solving skills.
6. Attitude
6.1. Communicating with patient/client with a respect for different
values, cultures, intellectual levels and emotional states.

Content:
-Definition of communication process
-Elements of the communication process
-Function of the communication in our lives
- Various communication settings
- Factors affecting communication process

Communication process

Introduction:

Communication is essential to our lives. It is the only way we make contacts

with another human being. It includes the totality of the human person and reflects
what is happening within and outside of us. Body sensations, thoughts, feelings,
ideas, perceptions, judgments, previous experiences, and memories are all parts of
how and what we communicate. The word communication derives from the Latin
word "common", which means to share, exchange, send along , transmit, talk, or
relate.

Communication is a vital element in nursing. Everything that occurs within the

nurse - client interaction involves some form or mode of communication, whether it is
listening to sressed family member, assisting a client in health teaching, or performing
a nursing procedure.

Definition:

Communication is a two way process of giving and receiving information, attitudes

and /or emotions that can occur between two or more individuals.
Elements of communication process

Communication is an interactive system consisting of a series of ever-changing ,

ongoing transactions in the environment. It always starts after a need, this need is
termed referent. Elements of communication process involves five elements:
participants (sender and receiver) , context, message, channels or medium, and
feedback.

1- Participants
The participants are the people who communicate, assuming the roles of sender
and receiver during communication. As sender, participants form messages and
attempt to send them to receiver through verbal symbols and nonverbal behavior .
As receiver, they interpret the messages and behaviors that they receive and react
to them.

2- Context:
Context is the physical, social, historical, psychological, and cultural settings in
which communication occurs.
 Physical context:
It includes the environmental condition (temperature, lighting, noise level ), the
physical distance between communicators , any seating arrangements , and time of
day. Each of these factors can affect the commmuncation.
 Social context:
It includes the purpose of the event as well as the existent relationships between
and among the participants . Whether a communication event takes place at family
dinner or a business meeting , and whether it occurs among family members ,
friends, or strangers, influence what and how messages are formed , shared , and
understood.
 Historical context:
It includes the background provided by previous communication episodes that
influence understandings in the current encounter. For instance, suppose one
morning ( A) tells (B) that he will get the draft of report that they had left for their
boss to read. As (B) enters the office that afternoon, he sees (A) and says did you
get it? Another person listening to the conversation would have no idea what the
"it" is to which (B) is referring. Yet (A) may well reply, "It is on the my desk".
(A) and (B) understood one another because of the contents of the earlier
exchange.
 Psychological context:
It includes the moods and feelings each person brings to communication. Either
positive or negative feelings may interfere with sending and receiving message.
Stress is one of the psychological contexts that may prevent the attaining of an
objective and empathetic environment conducive to the communication process.
 Cultural context:
A person’s culture influences how he expresses his ideas and feelings, and each
culture has certain sanctioned verbal and nonverbal channels of expression.
Whereas an American conceals his feelings, a member of an Eastern culture
openly and loudly expresses his grief, anger, or joy.
3- Message:
Communication takes place through sending and receiving messages , which
include the elements of meaning , symbols, encoding and decoding , and
organization.
 Meaning
Meaning are the ideas and feelings that exist in mind .
 Symbols:
To share meaning ,verbal and non verbal symbols are used. Symbols are words,
sounds, and actions that represent specific content meaning.
 Encoding and decoding:
The cognitive thinking process of transforming ideas and feelings into symbols and
organizing them into a message is called encoding , while the process of
interpreting the message by the receiver is called decoding.
 Organization:
When meaning is complex , there is a need to organize it in sections or in a
certain order.

4- Channels:
A channel is the mean of transforming messages. They are sent and received via
five senses of ; sight , sound, touch, taste, and smelI. this sense , writing, talking on
the phone, and speaking in face to face are channels through which we send our
messages. In addition to these channels we transfer our thoughts and feelings by ,
posture, gestures, distance, clothing, and many other ways.

5- Feedback:
Two-way communication is important in many situations, not only because it gives
us a chance to share our ideas with others , but also because it helps us to check
and verify our understanding of the messages that others have sent .The use of
two-way communication for verification is termed feedback. It can be defined as a
transferring of information from the receiver back to the sender to ensure that
mutual understanding has taken place in a communication.

Communication functions:
Communication serves several important functions which are:

1. Satisfying most of social and psychological needs.

We need other people just as we need food, water, and shelter. Communication
satisfies social and psychological needs to achieve inclusion with others, affection,
and acceptance.

2. Enhancing and maintaining the sense of self.

Through our communication, we learn who we are, what we are good at , and how
people react to how we behave.

3. Developing relationship.
Not only do we get to know others through our communication with them, but
more important, we develop relationships with them – relationships that grow
and deepen or stagnate and wither away.
 4. Exchanging information.
Some information we get through observation , and direct commmunication
with others. All of us have countless exchanges that involve sending and
receiving information.

5. Influencing others.
We interact with others to exercise some influence over others such as trying to
convince or persuade others to do something in formal or informal contexts.

Communication Settings:
 Interpersonal communication settings:
These settings are characterized by informal conversations between two or more
individuals.

 Problem - solving group settings:

Are characterized by participants who come together for the specific purpose of
solving a problem or arriving at a decision. This kind of communication takes
place in meeting.

 Public-speaking settings:
Are characterized by a speaker delivering a prepared formal message to an
audience in a public setting.

 Electronically mediated communication settings :

Are characterized by participants who do not share a physical context but
communicate through the use of technology.

The factors influencing communication process:

A) Personal factors:
Attitude,values, and beliefs :.
Attiude, values , and beliefs are learned ways of thinking. Attitude is a set of
beliefs about the surrounding people and world that predisposes one to respond in a
certain way. Belief is a standard that members hold as valid or truthful.Value is a
deeply seated attitude commonly rooted in core beliefs, usually about intrinsic
worth of something . Children generally adopt the value systems and internalize
the attitudes and beliefs of their parents. Children may retain this way of thinking
into adulthood or develop a different set of attitudes and values as they mature.

Culture and religion.:

Communication has its roots in culture. Cutural norms, ideas and customs provide
the basis for our way of communication. Cultural values are learned and differ
from society to society. Every culture has its own view, its own way of looking to
the world, which is unique. For example, people of Frensh or Italian heritage often
are referred to as talkative, willing to share thoughts and feelings. people from East
Asian countries such as Thailand or Laos are quiet, may appear reluctant to discuss
personal feelings with persons outside their families. Religion can influence
communication as well. Some symbolic gestures communicate an individual’s
religious beliefs.

Gender:
Gender influences the manner in which individuals communicate. Each culture has
gender signals that are recognized as either masculine or feminine and provide a
basis for distinguishing between members of each sex.

Age or developmental level:

Age influences communication and it is never more evident than during
adolescence. In their struggle to separate from parental confines and establish their
own identity, adolescents generate a pattern of communication that is unique and
changes from generation to generation. Developmental influences on
communication may relate to physiological alteration.

Past experiences:
Previous positive or negative experiences influence one’s ability to communicate .
For example , a child who has been told continually to be quiet, may become
withdrawn and noncommunicative. A teenager who has been put down by parents
or teachers whenever attempting to express any feelings may develop a poor self-
image and feel his opinions are not worthwhile . As result , the teenager avoids
interacting with others.

Social status:
One factor that affects the use of verbal and non verbal communication is the
social class of the participants. High status persons are associated with gestures
that communicate their higher position.
Knowledge of subject matter:
A person who is well –educated or knowledgeable about certain topics may feel
more secure when discussing these topics with others.

Ability to relate to others:

Some people are natural –born talkers , such an ability can also be learned process
and the result of practicing communicative skills over a period of time.

Interpersonal perceptions:
Communication is affected by what we select to perceive, how we organize it , and
how we interpret it. It is important to understand a basic fact about communication:
what is perceived is not always what actually is. One selects what is seen, heared
and said to others and in a sense creates the surrounding world. Perceptions of
others are affected by one’s attitude and values.

Psychological noise:
Refers to forces within the sender and receiver that make people less able to
express or understand the messages clearly.
 B) Environmental factors:
Time, place, and the presence of people:
Timing is quite important during conversation. The place in which communication
occurs, as well as the number of people present have a definite influence on
interaction.

Physical noise:
It includes those obvious things that make it difficult to hear, as well as many other
kinds of distractions. Physical noises are sights, sounds, and other stimuli in the
environment that draw people’s attention away from what is being said or done. It
can disrupt the communication almost anywhere in the communication process - in
the sender, channel, message, or receiver.