[Verified Answer]: To begin with, I would like to define…

To begin with, I would like to define communication to provide a baseline and understanding of it. Communication is a dynamic process of understanding and sharing meaning, which leads to a relationship involving the interaction of participants (McLean, 2022). Around a week ago, I had an elderly patient who was on a 1:1 for safety due to confusion and him pulling on his IVs. He had multiple sitters and techs rotating due to changing shifts but remained with the same few nurses. During most of the time with other sitters, he had many outbursts and screaming episodes due to both confusion and inability to take his psych medications. This caused his 1:1 companions as well as multiple other members of the healthcare team to become frustrated including myself. After a few hours, I understood why he had so many outbursts, and it was due to overall confusion and a lack of understanding. Rather than talking him down when outbursts began, many of the 1:1 companions ignored him unless it escalated to him pulling or trying to get out of bed. One day, it was my turn to sit with him for my shift. I decided to just talk him through everything and ensured I sat closer to him and spoke in a calm voice rather than yelling across the room. This led to a drastic decrease in his outbursts and led to him sleeping more as well as becoming more cooperative with care. When dealing with older, confused patients, it’s important to remain calm, respectful, and patient. It’s important to speak slowly and give them the time to process and respond to the information being stated (National Institute of Aging, 2023). Due to his improved behavior with me, many of the nurses and other members of the care team seemed to relax. After a few hours, he felt comfortable enough to eat, receive oral care, and allow for suctioning of oral secretions. Perception Understanding perception helps us learn how to deal with specific situations, especially in the healthcare setting where you come across many people with varying mental statuses. It helps us treat others with respect and dignity while preventing miscommunication. Change I wish I had noticed the signs sooner and began effective communication techniques with him sooner. If I had realized sooner rather than getting frustrated like the others, it could’ve led to fewer outbursts from the patient. I truly hope it was a learning experience for the entire team and anyone reading this! I know I learned a lot from the situation.