04 NURSING AS AN ART CARING AMD
COMMUNICATION
CARING
CARING
 is sharing deep and genuine concern about
the welfare of another individual.
 is a dimension of human relating and is
often referred to as the art of nursing.
CARING PRACTICE
 involves connection, mutual recognition and
involvement between nurse and client.
CARING AS “Helping the other Grow”
 the caring process has benefits for the one
giving care.
 By caring and being cared for, each
individual finds his/her place in the world.
THE 6 C’s OF CARING IN NURSING
1. COMPASSION
 Awareness of one’s relationship to others,
sharing their joys, sorrows, pain and
accomplishments
 Participation in the experience to another.
2. COMPETENCE
 Having the “knowledge, judgement, skills,
energy, experience and motivation required
to respond adequately to the demands of
one’s proffesional responsibillities.
3. CONFIDENCE
 Comfort with self, client, and others that
allow one to build trusting relationship
4. CONSCIENCE
 Morals, ethics and an informed sense of
right and wrong
 awareness of personal responsibilities
5. COMMITMENT
 The deliberate choice to act in accordance
with one’s desire as well as obligations,
resulting in investments of self in a task
6. COMPORTMENT
 Appropriate bearing, demeanor, dress and
language that are in harmony with a caring
presence.
 presenting oneself as someone who respects
others and demands respects.
CARING FOR SELF
 Milton Mayeroff (1990) describe caring for
self as helping your self grow and actualize
your posibilities
 Caring for self means taking the time to
nurture yourself.
 Although different activities may be helpful
to different people, some examples of these
activities includes:
* A healthy lifestyle (nutrition, activity and
exercise, recreation)
* Mind-Body therapies (guided imagery,
meditation, yoga)
A healthy lifestyle
 NUTRITION- healthy eating means
learning to make good choices in the food
eaten, preparing foods appropriately and
eating in moderation.
 ACTIVITY AND EXERCISE- exercise is a
lifetime endeavor that is essential for
healthy living.
 RECREATION- Self-care also includes time
to do things that bring joy and stimulate
activity.
-Nurses need to reward
themselves, take downtime or time to do
nothing.
 AVOIDING UNHEALTHY PATTERNS-
avoiding activities or thought patterns that
contribute to negative health outscomes.
Mind-Body Therpies
 GUIDED IMAGERY- it uses power of the
imagination as a therapeutic tool.
 MEDITATION- it assist the individual in
releasing fears, worries and doubts
-the techneque involves both
rrelaxation and focused atttention.
 STORYTELLING- stories help individuals
gain a greater understanding of life.
-stories are also a mechanism
to deal with stress and move towards
wholeness
  MUSIC THERAPY- music therapy includes
listening, singing, rhythm and body
movement
-familiar music allows listener to
2. Message
recall past events or feelings.
 YOGA- the practice of yoga unites body,
mind and spirit
- the bending, stretching and holding 3. Receiver
properties of the postures help to relax and tone the
muscle and improve function of the internal organ/.
COMMUNICATING
The Communication Process
teh messege, such as which language and  Clarity and Brevity
words to use, how to arrange the words, and  Timing and Relevance
what tone of voice and gestures to use.  Adaptability
 Credibility
 Humor
It is what is said or written, the body
For Nonverbal Communication, Nurses must
language that accompanies the words, and
observe nonverbal behavior;
how the messege is trasmitted.
 Personal Appearance
The receiver is the listener, who must listen,  Posture and Gait
observe and attend. This individual is the  Facial Expression
decoder.
To DECODE means to translate the  Gestures
messege sent via the receiver’s knowledge
and experiences to sort out the meaning of
the messege.

The communication process is complex, and often
unsuccessful
 In its simplest from, communication is a
two-way process involving the sending and
the receiving of a messege.
 Elements of Communication Process
1. Sender
an individual or group wishing to
communicate a message to another, can be
consider the source encoder.
ENCODING involves the selection of
specific signs or symbols (codes) to transmit
4. Response
It is the messege that the receiver returns to
the sender. It is also called FEEDBACK.
MODES OF COMMUNICATION
A. Verbal Communication
 Uses the spoken or written word and is a
largely conscious because people choose the
words they use.
B. Nonverbal Communication
 Uses other forms, such as gestures, facial
expressions, touh and body movements.
 sometimes called Body Language.
For Verbal Communication, Nurses needs to
consider the following when choosing words
to say or write:
 Pace and Tonation
 Simplicity
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE
COMMUNICATION PROCESS
A. Development
 knowledge of client’s developmental stage
will allow the nurse to modify the message
accordingly
B. Gender
 Male and female communicate differently.
 Girls tends to use language to seek
confirmation and establish intimacy.
 Boys use language to establish
independence and negotiate status within the
group.
C. Values and Perception
  Values (are the standards that influence
behavior)
 Perception( Personal view of an event)
 It is important for the nurse to be aware of a
client’s values and to validate or correct
perceptions to avoid creating barriers in the
nurse-client relationship.
D. Personal Space
 Personal space is the distance people prefer
in interactions with others.
 Communication thus varies in accordance
with four distances:
Intimate (0-1 1/2 feet)
 the nurse keeps the focus on the clients and
avoid sharing personal information.
 If the client seeks friendship with the nurse
or a relationship outside the work
environment, the nurse affirms his/ her
professional role and declines the invitation.
Therapeutic Communication
 THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION-
promotes understanding and can help
establish a constructive relationship between
the nurse and the client.
 Nurses need to respond not only to the
content of a client verbal message but also
to the feelings expressed

Personal (1 1/2 to 4 feet)  It is important to understand how the client

views the situation and feels about it before
Social Distance ( 4 to 12 feet) responding.
Public (12 feet and beyond) Therapeutic Communication Technique
E. Territoriality
 It is a concept of the space and things that
an individual considers as belonging to the
self.
F. Roles and Relationship
 The roles and the relationships between the
sender and receiver affect the
communication process.
G. Environment
 People usually communicate most
effectively in a comfortable environment.
H. Boundaries
Barriers to Communications
 Nurses need to recognize barriers or
nontherapeutic responses to effective
communication.
 Failing to listen, improperly decoding the
clients intended message, and placing the
nurse’s needs above the client’s needs are
major barriers to communications.