Cultural Barriers to Communication Discussion

Cultural Barriers to Communication

Communication is essential whether at home or in the work environment. Managers and team

members are challenged in the healthcare field as effective communication is essential to transfer

information, develop common understanding and enhance knowledge. Mastering communication

skills reduces errors related to consumers and handling of patients and increases effective

interaction with patients, consumers, peers, colleagues and other departments.

Let’s read the following scenario.

A healthcare manager sent an e-mail stating the unit would begin to incorporate a new patient

safety program, where patients who are at risk will need to wear yellow socks. This identifies a

protocol, which includes keeping the bed rails up and requires thirty-minute rounding to make

certain that the patients are not getting out of bed without assistance. A registered nurse (RN),

recently employed from China, has a language barrier, even though she has passed her state

boards. She is not familiar with e-mail as a communication method in her past work environment

in China.

The RN from China, Meelynn, does not read the e-mail directive and her patient is not given the

proper protocol procedures. The patient falls from the bed and now has been transferred to the

intensive care unit (ICU). The manager is now meeting with her to understand how this occurred

and to educate Meelynn about effective communication methods used in the organization. You

heard Meelynn say to other workers, "I don't think this is my fault. We get ten e-mails each day,

text messages from management, and we are expected to read all of it and care for patients. I

don't have time to read all the messages the manager sends to me. Some of the messages I don't

even understand what she means and I cannot go and take time to find her."