Clinical Communication

Enhancing the Communication Skills of Critical Care Nurses: Focus on Prognosis and Goals of Care Discussions

Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management. 2015 December;22(12)

Author(s):

References

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From the University of California Irvine Health/Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Orange, CA (Ms. Boyle) and the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA (Dr. Anderson).

Abstract

Objective: To describe components of a unique interactive workshop focusing on the enhancement of critical care nurses’ communication skills within the realm of prognosis and goals of care discussions with family members and physicians.
Methods: A series of one-day workshops were offered to critical care nurses practicing in the 5 University of California hospital settings. After workshop attendance, nurse participants were followed by workshop facilitators in their units to ensure new communication skills were being integrated into practice and to problem solve if barriers were met.
Results: Improvement in nurses’ self-confidence in engaging in these discussions was seen. This confidence was sustained months following workshop participation.
Conclusion: The combination of critical care nurse workshop participation that involved skill enhancement through role-playing, in combination with clinical follow-up with attendees, resulted in positive affirmation of nurse communication skills specific to prognosis and goals of care discussions with family members and physicians.

There is increasing evidence that in the absence of quality communication between professional caregivers and those they care for, negative outcomes may prevail, such as reduced patient/family satisfaction, lower health status awareness, and a decreased sense of being cared about and cared for [1–5]. Communication skill competency is a critical corollary of nursing practice. In the intensive care unit (ICU) setting, patients and families have cited skilled communication as a core element of high-quality care [3,6]. Proficiency in this realm enhances nurses’ understanding of the patient and family’s encounter with health care and provides a vehicle to gather information, inform, teach, and offer emotional support. Additionally, it identifies values, goals, health care preferences, worries and concerns, and facilitates the nurses’ coordination of care [7]. Despite this skill’s importance, however, it is generally not taught in basic education and until recently has been overlooked as a key competency [8,9].

Skilled communication in palliative and end-of-life care is pivotal for discussing prognosis and care planning. In the acute care setting this is particularly relevant as the majority of Americans die in hospitals versus their preferred site of home [10]. Additionally, 1 in 5 Americans die during or shortly after receiving care in an ICU [11]. Hence, while the ICU is a setting in which intensive effort to save lives is employed, it is also a setting where death frequently occurs. The complexity and highly emotive nature of critical care often results in family needs for information and support not being met [12]. A number of reasons for this occurrence have been proposed. In this paper, we will delineate barriers to critical care nurses’ involvement in prognosis and goals of care discussions, identify why nurse involvement in this communication is needed, describe a unique workshop exemplar with a sample role play that characterizes the workshop, and offer recommendations for colleagues interested in replicating similar education offerings.

Barriers to Communication

In the ICU, the sheer number of professionals families interact with may cause confusion. In particular, numerous medical consultants commonly offer opposing opinions. Additionally, each specialist may provide information that focuses on their area of expertise such that the “big picture” is not relayed to the patient and family. Emotional discomfort on the part of the health professional around discussions of poor prognosis, goals of care, and code status may prompt limiting discussion time with patients and families and even the avoidance of interpersonal exchanges [13–15]. Health professionals have also reported concern that end-of-life discussions will increase patient distress [16]. Among health care professionals, the subject of mortality may prompt personal anxiety, trigger unresolved grief, or fear that they will “become emotional” in front of the patient/family [7]. Lack of knowledge about cultural and religious norms has been cited as a barrier, as has time constraints [17,18]. Most frequently, inadequate or absent communication skill training is noted as a significant barrier [19,20]. Many ICU nurses also report feeling marginalized due their exclusion from goals of care and decision-making discussions with patients and families they know well [21,22].