This document provides guidance for a discussion post assignment regarding ineffective communication in a healthcare setting. Students are asked to summarize an incident of ineffective communication, describe the barriers and challenges that contributed to the incident, and propose strategies that could have been used to promote a better outcome. The document reviews several resources on topics like organizational communication, traditional vs new approaches to communication, communicative leadership, communication patterns between physicians and nurses, communication strategies for social change, and dealing with cultural diversity in communication and decision making.

1. Addressing Barriers to Effective Communication
From moment to moment, a nurse leader’s day involves
communication—with patients, families, colleagues,
supervisors, and so on.
Think of a particular day you spent working in a health care
environment, and consider three or four distinct points in time.
For each point of time, consider the following: With whom did
you interact? Which forms of communication did you use? What
issues were communicated about—did they seem to be light-
hearted or sensitive? Straightforward or complicated? How
would you describe the pace of the interactions and your work?
As you consider these questions, it becomes clear that
communication can be quite complex, with many layers of
meaning that shape the experience for everyone involved. How
could this awareness help you to understand instances of
ineffective communication when they arise?
To prepare:
Review the information in Chapter 19 of the course text, as well
as the assigned articles.
Reflect on an incident involving ineffective communication
within your organization or another health care setting.
Consider this incident through the lens of the communication
process outlined in Figure 19.1 of the course text (p. 439).
What barriers contributed to this incident? What other
challenges may have influenced this situation?
Using the information presented in the other Learning
Resources, consider what could have been done to prevent or
address the ineffective communication. Why do you think the
use of these strategies would have resulted in better

2. outcome(s)?
Post
(1)
a summary of an incident involving ineffective communication.
(2) Describe communication barriers and other challenges that
contributed to the incident. (3) Propose one or more strategies
that could have been employed to promote a better outcome. (4)
Be sure to refer to elements of the communication process.
Required Resources
Note:
To access this week's required library resources, please click
on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the
Course Materials
section of your Syllabus.
Readings
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2015).
Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory
and application
(8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Review Chapter 19, “Organizational, Interpersonal, and Group
Communication”
Gifu, D., Dima, I. C., & Teodorescu, M. (2014). New
communication approaches vs. traditional communication.
International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences
, (20), 46-55.
Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.

3. The study highlights some communication instances of actual
approach of human society evolution in contrast with traditional
communication.
Johansson, C., Miller, V. D., Hamrin, S. (2014) Conceptualizing
communicative leadership: A framework for analyzing and
developing leaders’ communication competence,
Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 19
(2), 147 – 165.
Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.
Excerpt from Abstract: Four central communicative behaviors
of leaders (i.e. structuring, facilitating, relating, and
representing), eight principles of communicative leadership, and
a tentative definition are presented. A communicative leader is
defined as someone who engages employees in dialogue,
actively shares and seeks feedback, practices participative
decision making, and is perceived as open and involved.
Manojlovich, M., Harrod, M., Holtz, B., Hofer, T., Kuhn, L., &
Krein, S. L. (2015). The Use of Multiple Qualitative Methods to
Characterize Communication Events Between Physicians and
Nurses. Health communication, 30(1), 61-69.
Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.
The purpose of this study was to develop a methodology for
identifying and characterizing communication events between
physicians and nurses to better understand communication
patterns on general medical–surgical units.
Seyranian, V. (2014). Social Identity Framing communication
strategies for mobilizing social change.
The Leadership Quarterly
,
25
(3), 468-486.
Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.
Except from Abstract: Social identity framing delineates a set

4. of communication tactics that leaders may use to harness
follower support for a vision of social change. Results showed
that participants exposed to inclusive language were more likely
to indicate that renewable energy was in-group normative;
intend to engage in collective action to bring renewable energy
to campus; experience positive emotions and confidence about
change; and to view the leader more positively. The
combination of inclusive language and positive social identity
increased ratings of leader charisma.
Van Keer, R. V., Deschepper, R. D., Huyghens, L. H.,
Distelmans, W. D., & Bilsen, J. B. (2014). Dealing with cultural
diversity during the process of communication and decision-
making in the ICU: a literature review.
Critical Care
,
18
(Suppl 1), P24. doi:10.1186/cc13214
Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.
Excerpt from Abstract: The aim of this study is to review the
experiences of the involved actors, namely the care providers,
the patients and their family members, with cultural diversity
during the process of communication and decision-making in
the ICU.