Journal Topic and Instruction
The topic for our journaling is “Communication Skills.” Here’s the instruction from our nursing assistant online class teacher. . .
Think about, then write about, the following, or choose your own comments related to the topic of communication.
Give an example of a time when you experienced a problem or challenge in communicating with someone.
The example could relate to language barriers, differences of opinion, hearing problems, emotions, such as anger or depression, age or intelligence.
What was the challenge and how did you handle it? How did you convey respect, caring, or concern, even though communication was an issue? What part did nonverbal communication play in this example?
Journal Entry: My Husband’s Communication Barrier
Read my journal entry below. . .
Two years ago, my husband was diagnosed with tongue cancer. He was a guy who was very health conscious―who never smoked or drank any alcoholic drinks. He mainly ate vegetarian foods. It was really a surprise for us that he got cancer.
He had a sore on his tongue that never got healed. The oncologist performed the biopsy. After the biopsy the sore got worse and it was painful for him to talk.
He could no longer talk because of the pain, so he wrote down when he communicated to us. Sometimes he acted it out. At first I had a hard time of guessing his actions. I got frustrated. He got frustrated. It was really challenging. But later I was getting better in guessing his actions.
One time he was in the hospital, and I wanted to talk to the nurse to find out how he was doing. It was no use talking to my husband on the phone because he couldn’t talk anyway. I did really want to talk to him.
The nurse asked me if I wanted to talk to him. She suggested that I could ask my husband questions that are answerable with “yes” or “no.” If the answer is yes, my husband would tap the phone once with a pen. If my husband would answer no, he would tap the phone twice.
It was really a delight that my husband and I could still communicate even though there was a communication barrier.
