How to implement compassionate leadership in nursing teams

RATIONALE AND KEY POINTS

This article explains how to implement compassionate leadership in nursing teams. Compassionate leadership is an approach that aims to empower and support staff through four main behavioural principles - attending, understanding, empathising and helping. • Compassionate leadership can be practised by all nurses, irrespective of their role or position, and with individuals or groups. • For the nurse, understanding and reflecting on their own leadership style is the starting point for compassionate leadership, after which nurses may consider leading others. • Implementing compassionate leadership can empower teams, enhancing team members' performance, motivation and well-being. • Compassionate leadership can also support improved outcomes for patients, since motivated nurses are more likely to provide high-quality care. REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY: 'How to' articles can help to update your practice and ensure it remains evidence based. Apply this article to your practice. Reflect on and write a short account of: • How this article might help you to introduce compassionate leadership into your nursing team. • How you could use this article to educate nursing colleagues and students about the role of compassionate leadership in nursing teams.

Best practices for communication while wearing facemasks: A scoping review

INTRODUCTION

Facemasks are an important piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) to mitigate the spread of respiratory illnesses, but they can impede communication between patients and healthcare providers. The purpose of this scoping review is to identify effective communication practices while wearing facemasks.

DESIGN

Scoping review using a systematic search of articles from the PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase databases.

METHODS

The PEO (population, exposure, outcome) methodology was selected for this systematic scoping review. The population of interest (P) includes humans of all ages (children, adults, and older adults); the exposure of interest (E) is PPE that covers the mouth (i.e., facemasks); and the outcome of interest (O) is successful or unsuccessful communication practices. The Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals appraisal guidelines were used to determine the level and quality of the research.

RESULTS

Thirty-nine articles met the inclusion criteria. Seventeen of these were high- or good-quality research studies, and the remaining 22 were non-research articles included with separate analysis as part of the scoping review. The 17 articles encompassed 2656 participants. The highest quality evidence indicated that standard surgical masks have the least impact on speech perception compared to other non-transparent mask types, and that recognizing emotions is less accurate with facemasks, necessitating compensatory actions (i.e., reducing extraneous noise, using a microphone to amplify voice, and employing clear speech). Evidence was contradictory regarding the use of transparent masks. Evidence was of limited quality for other non-verbal and verbal communication strategies.

CONCLUSION

Awareness of communication challenges is crucial when wearing facemasks. More high-quality studies are needed to evaluate communication techniques when speakers are wearing facemasks. Basic strategies such as selecting an appropriate mask type, reducing extraneous noise, using microphones, verbalizing emotions, and employing clear speech appear to be beneficial.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The findings of this scoping review highlight the importance of considering communication challenges while wearing facemasks in the healthcare settings. The review suggests that selecting an appropriate mask type, reducing extraneous noise, verbalizing emotions, and employing clear speech are some strategies that may be effective in mitigating the impact of facemasks on communication between patients and healthcare providers.

Community specialist practitioner's role in enhancing interprofessional collaboration

Communication failures not only fail the patient but also the multidisciplinary team involved in patient care in the community. All nurses are expected to have good communication skills, but advanced skills in coaching, teaching and collaborating are expected of the community specialist practitioner (CSP). The skill of communication is intricate, influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, affecting the ability of both the sender and receiver to understand the messages sent and received. Communication should be tailored to the individual to enhance the dialogue. The CSP is best placed, together with the patient, to align the priorities of each contributor to the patient's health to enhance person-centred care. Enhanced communication skills used in conjunction with emotional intelligence can improve interprofessional collaboration, which, in turn, increases the quality of care.