Communication in Healthcare: Crucial Conversations A crucial conversation which I was a part of recently involved an experience which concerned a patient going through end of life care. During this conversation I had to bring to the other nurse's attention the fact that some of her actions were offending the patient and the patient's family and that during this difficult time that really was not acceptable. For example, during the conversation I explained to the nurse that eye contact with this middle eastern ethnic group was supposed to be avoided, as was pointing as both were considered extremely offensive. The other nurse also tried to prevent candles from being lit and folk dishes from being eaten in the room. I explained to her that within this culture it was an inherent and important part of the ritual of death and a way to honor the dying. It was apparent that the other nurse was embarrassed by her behavior and by her own ignorance, as she avoided eye contact and nodded a lot, looking down at her feet. I tried to communicate as gently as possible as this other nurse simply didn't have the same amount of experience and just wasn't knowledgeable about end of life care. I tried to approach the situation as an attempt to communicate and to foster a teachable moment. Ultimately this conversation was beneficial as it led to the more active participation in a shared vision among this nurse and myself and a greater manifestation of the shared vision of the entire hospital at large (Grossman & Valiga,...
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