Communication Personal Account upon Communication

Communication is an everyday necessity that is additionally a challenging endeavor. Though most everyone engages in communication, very few people are effective communicators. In reflecting on my on communication skills, I understand the necessity of adapting some of my communication methods to meet another individual's communications needs, wishes, and preferences. In a nursing home, I have had to speak louder or slower than my usual communications with others. I have also had to explain something repeatedly or in several ways because of some of the health conditions of the residents in the facility.

When it is evident that I am having problems in communication, I seek advice about it. I also seek advice about communication when I am about to enter into a new situation, such as beginning college, graduate school, a new job, or a new type of job environment, such as the corporate...

In a nursing home, I have sought advice when dealing with particularly difficult or challenging residents. I do have limited experience in nursing homes -- visiting relatives and out of professional curiousity, I sought advice about communication, especially about communication among the nursing staff. I asked some of the staff and other health care professionals, and even some residents and relatives who have spent time in homes on the other side of the coin.
There are a number of steps or precautions one can take to identify and reduce the barriers to communication. Language is an obvious barrier and source of confusion. Nursing homes often have staff who speak other languages besides the primary language of the country the facility is in. There are also literary resources available as well as instructors who will come to nursing homes to instruct those seniors who need linguistic assistance.

Identifying more subtle or complex barriers to communication may require specialized training. Staff of nursing homes should be open…