Communication Training Impact

Introduction

The essay is regarding the presentation of evidence of impact of communication training and technology required to interact and support patients with Dementia for nurses. In this purpose, initially the importance of evidence and evidence-based practice regarding the topic in nursing is to be explained. The search strategy used in identifying evidence regarding the topic is to be mentioned. The annotated bibliography of two primary articles relevant to the topic is to be explained to inform evidence regarding the topic. The patients suffering from dementia are seen to face hindrance with developing speech as a result of destruction of brain cells caused by the disease. The hindered speech formation leads the nurses unable to develop effective interaction with the patients suffering from dementia to determine their healthcare need and approach them to involve in person-centred care (Williams et al., 2018). In this condition, the presence of communication training for nurses and knowledge of using communication technology is mentioned to be useful for nurses in overcoming the communication barrier created due to speech issue (Osaka et al., 2017). Therefore, the topic that is impact of communication training and technology for nurses to interact with patients with Dementia is of significance because it would help to understand to what extent it is true that communication technology and training for nurses are useful in establishing effective interaction with dementia patients.

Background

In nursing, evidence-based practise (EBP) is referred to the integration of quality research evidence in the clinical practice to ensure valued and quality care to the patients with less error to ensure improved patient outcome (Celik Aysegul et al., 2020). The EBP is important in nursing because it allows the nurses to remain updated regarding the advanced medical protocols to be followed in patient care to offer them quality care. The EBP is also important in nursing as it helps the nurses to understand effectiveness and risk of any intervention or diagnosis to be used for the patient (Li et al., 2018). The impact of communication training and technology required by nurses to interact and support patients with Dementia is chosen as the theme because communication difficulties are seen to create barriers to form interaction with Dementia patients and discussion regarding the impact of technology would lead to understand how they are able to resolve the barrier (Naughton et al., 2018). The topic is relevant to nursing practise as it would help the nurses to decide whether truly communication training and technology can act as benefit for nurses to be used in forming meaningful conversation with dementia patients.

Search Strategy

The key concept of the search strategy is to determine the way secondary data sources for the mentioned topic is to be gathered. The electronic search strategy is been used and the database selected to be used for this purpose is CINHAL. The CINHAL is chosen as the key database as it contains wide variety of nursing journals and articles from all over the world to be explored regarding various topics. The Boolean operators AND and OR are used in linking the keywords for framing meaningful research. The inclusion criteria followed in the study are articles published on and after 2016, written in English language, primary articles (qualitative and quantitative study), academic in nature, fully accessible. The exclusion criteria followed in the study are articles published before 2016, only abstract is available, secondary articles, non-academic and not written in English language. The keywords used in framing the search are Communication, Dementia, Elderly dementia, communication support and digital technology. In total, 250 articles relevant to the study topic are identified and by exploring each of them two potential articles are selected.

Annotated Bibliography

Article 1: Núñez-Naveira, L., Alonso-Búa, B., de Labra, C., Gregersen, R., Maibom, K., Mojs, E., Krawczyk-Wasielewska, A. and Millán-Calenti, J.C., (2016). UnderstAID, an ICT platform to help informal caregivers of people with dementia: a pilot randomized controlled study. BioMed research international, 2016.pp.23-90.

The aim of the study is to assess the technical and pedagogical specifications of an e-learning platform (AID) which is a form of ICT platform by the informal care providers of dementia and identify the impact of it on satisfaction of caregivers on implementing it for dementia care. The strength of the study is that both control and experimental groups are used to compare and contrast the data to determine to what extent the communication technology helped the caregivers of dementia patients feel ease with delivering care with its help. The limitation of the study is that it may have suffered a sampling bias on the basis of internet access to the caregivers or their previous experience with using technological devices. Moreover, some data in the study is found to be collected through paper questionnaires which is delivered in the end of the pilot testing, in turn, enhances the presence of odds of missing data in the study. The implication of the data of the study is that the mentioned ICT platform can be used in helping caregivers of dementia patients to feel ease in accessing support to develop meaningful communication and deliver effective care to the patients.

Article 2: Holthe, T., Jentoft, R., Arntzen, C. and Thorsen, K., (2018). Benefits and burdens: family caregivers’ experiences of assistive technology (AT) in everyday life with persons with young-onset dementia (YOD). Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 13(8), pp.754-762.

The aim of the study is to determine the benefits and burden of using assistive technology by the family caregivers in forming communication and delivering care to the person who express early onset of dementia. The strength of the study is that it is organised for 18 months and the same researchers during the period perform dyads of the project which ensure that effective continuity and in-depth knolwdege was present in explaining the information effectively. The limitation of the study is that the recruitment of the participants through memory clinic was slow due to which increased time us taken for completion of the study. In the study, six occupational therapists are seen to take part in gathering data from participants during their home visits. The quality of the relationship between the occupational therapist and participants during the care duration may have influenced the data and results in the study. In the study, it is mentioned that collaboration with family carer was important, but the study failed to mention proper reason top emphasise on this aspect effectively from the beginning of the research. The information of the paper would benefit the nursing practice by allowing nurses to use assistive technology in communicating and delivering care to dementia patients without hindrance.

Conclusion

The key points to be concluded from the above discussion is that online learning application are effective for caregivers of dementia patients to learn regarding the way they are to communicate and deliver appropriate to the patients. Moreover, the use of assistive technology is seen to provide relief and burden of care and communication by the family caregiver of dementia patients. The recommendation developed from the above discussion is that further research is required to determine how the assistive technology and e-learning application for caregivers of dementia patients ease their care burden and communication issues with patients.

Reference list:

• Celik Aysegul, R.N., Oznur, U.Y. and Asiye, A., (2020). Evidence-Based Practices for Preventing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Intensive Care Nursing: Knowledge and Practice. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 13(3), pp.1794-1798.
• Holthe, T., Jentoft, R., Arntzen, C. and Thorsen, K., (2018). Benefits and burdens: family caregivers’ experiences of assistive technology (AT) in everyday life with persons with young-onset dementia (YOD). Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 13(8), pp.754-762.
• Li, S.A., Jeffs, L., Barwick, M. and Stevens, B., (2018). Organizational contextual features that influence the implementation of evidence-based practices across healthcare settings: a systematic integrative review. Systematic reviews, 7(1), pp.1-19.
• Naughton, C., Beard, C., Tzouvara, V., Pegram, A., Verity, R., Eley, R. and Hingley, D., (2018). A feasibility study of dementia communication training based on the VERA framework for pre-registration nurses: Part II impact on student experience. Nurse education today, 63, pp.87-93.
• Núñez-Naveira, L., Alonso-Búa, B., de Labra, C., Gregersen, R., Maibom, K., Mojs, E., Krawczyk-Wasielewska, A. and Millán-Calenti, J.C., (2016). UnderstAID, an ICT platform to help informal caregivers of people with dementia: a pilot randomized controlled study. BioMed research international, 2016.
• Osaka, K., Sugimoto, H., Tanioka, T., Yasuhara, Y., Locsin, R., Zhao, Y., Okuda, K. and Saito, K., (2017). Characteristics of a transactive phenomenon in relationships among older adults with dementia, nurses as intermediaries, and communication robot. Intelligent Control and Automation, 8(02), p.111.
• Williams, K.N., Perkhounkova, Y., Jao, Y.L., Bossen, A., Hein, M., Chung, S., Starykowicz, A. and Turk, M., (2018). Person-centered communication for nursing home residents with dementia: Four communication analysis methods. Western journal of nursing research, 40(7), pp.1012-1031.