The Efficiency of Therapeutic Communication

The role of communication in any interpersonal relationship is unquestionable. Being gregarious by nature, Man has taken the level of communication to a new level through the development of language. Language has provided Man with the necessary medium to fully express his every thought, idea and knowledge to others. Without communication, Man would cease to exist (Martin, 2003). In the advent of globalization we as humans tend to be united in one line of communication and that is the English language. In a recently concluded study regarding the problems being experienced by immigrants to the United States, it was found out that the degree of competence and fluency in the English language was inversely proportional to the degree of difficulties encountered by the respondents. Conversely, the less difficulties the respondents encountered in communicating with other people in the United States, the less difficulties they experienced in general. (Atkinson, 2001). Through the deeper understanding of a language the human person becomes more aware of his surroundings and become more competent and understanding in his dealings with another person.

In this connection the members of the allied health field rely essentially on communication in developing trust and establishing rapport with the patients in order to open up lines of understanding and comprehension. Through the proper use of communication techniques, physicians and nurses will find it easier to determine the cause of complaints of a patient and proceed directly to treating them. (Boyles, 2004). And the issues of the time being spent by nurses at bedside versus the quantity of patients being served has always been the topic for debate. As the population of the world keeps on growing, more and more patients demand nursing services and this has resulted to a decrease in bedside time and correspondingly, has resulted to nurses being more detached from their patients. (Manalo,2001). That's why continuous formation program for nurses, as Maningas recommended, such as seminars, group dynamics and other enrichment activities has proved to be essential in the continued development of nurses' professional and personal skills. These activities often prove to be the influencing factors in producing more competent, effective and efficient nurses in the working environment.

John Dewey agreed with the above mentioned premise and he noted in his Democracy and Education (New York, 1916) that society exists not only by but also in communication. In his sociocultural communication theory, which derives from twentieth century sociological and anthropological thought, is a sixth tradition. Sociocultural theory conceptualizes communication as a symbolic process that produces and reproduces shared meanings, rituals, and social structures. That is, society exists not only by using communication as a necessary tool for transmitting and exchanging information. To communicate as a member of