Effective Communication

In nursing school effective communication is really beaten into our brains. Nurses need to be able to communicate effectively with their patients, family members, and other healthcare members to provide safe and appropriate care.  My trip to New Orleans also provided me with many chances to see how therapeutic communication is important in everyday life also. The first example of good communication was before we even left for the trip. Our instructor opened up the lines of communication by creating a class blog, getting all the students phone numbers, and using email to communicate important dates and assignments with us. While on the trip I noticed our instructor in constant communication with tour guides, our chaperone, and students. This provided to be important to make sure all activities ran smoothly. At the last class gathering she once again opened up the lines of communication. She asked our opinions, what we liked about the trip, what we would change, and what we think should be removed.  She generally wanted to hear what we had to say which made many of us feel good about the conclusion of the class. I also experienced great communication when it came to my roommates. Because we were friends before the trip we wanted to make sure no drama ensued during the class.  We decided that if anyone became annoyed, upset or started to miss home we would talk to our roommates about it.  I also witnessed a few times where effective communication was not used. Some roommates started getting annoyed with each other and instead of discussing with each other they held it in and uncomfortable situations occurred between roommates. Another negative situation occurred that could have been avoided with proper communication.  While boarding the train the Amtrak woman was told there were twenty-two people in our group. She handed the first student in line 22 pieces a paper and told us to board. Now this was confusing because on the trip down we were given specific instructions on how to board the train and we had reserved seating; this unfortunately was not the case on the train home. Not knowing what to do, we did what we had done in the first trip and loaded from the back to the front.  The woman was not pleased with the situation and instructed all 22 of us this was wrong. Everyone grab their carry on luggage to prepare to move. As this was happening she shouted for us to stay put so everyone say back down.  She then proceeded to the back and said that four seats were reserved for staff (which was not marked in any way). Once again people started to get up only to be told to stay put again; confusing I know. She then returned with two pieces of paper but never said what the paper was for and walked away. At this point we felt everything was alright. Little did we know Amtrak police were being called because some of us were still sitting in employee seating because of being told to stay put. This situation could have easily been avoided if the woman had communicated from the beginning what was suppose to happen and what the pieces of paper were for. Instead she failed miserably at communication and caused a unwarranted scene which in returned upset 22 individuals.  All of the situations I encountered while on the trip really helped me understand the importance of therapeutic communication.