APA Format Unbiased Communication, Essay Example

Written communication is a crucial tool to pass along information while making this information permanent on record of given significant events. The most important way to ensure written communication remains clear and straight forward is through the use of nursing documentation. Nursing documentation provides the nursing profession with permanent records of a nurse’s input towards a given patient’s outcome. This is only realized through the creation and development of chronological documentation of events depicting how nursing interventions have been inherited with the overall desired health care plan (Hood, Leddy, & Pepper, 2014). Furthermore, nursing documentation formulates a framework on which patient care is guaranteed continuity.

Oral Communication is also an important facet of patient care. Oral communication is especially important during the handover of patient care where the nurses communicate important information pertaining to the patient and their care to other health professionals and/or nurses (Hood, Leddy, & Pepper, 2014). This is important to ensure the complete and total transfer of professional accountability and responsibility. In order for clarity and permanency of information shared in oral communication during professional accountability transfer, holistic and long-term goals have to be placed into consideration as well as the goals and the patient’s references. This is also essential in helping the nurses or medical professionals discuss information they may not be willing to commit to writing. A salient example would be reporting on the difficulties during a shift. Such difficulties are not usually recorded on book. As such, it is the nurses’ responsibility to convey any information that may be critical to helping the next shift critically handle the patient in the least eventful manner.

Communication through written and oral channels can be effectively employed to improve interdisciplinary collaboration through the creation of framework on which information relating to the two or more disciplines can be shared seamlessly. The creation of a seamless communication network would significantly enhance interdisciplinary collaboration.

According to the American Psychological Association 6^th edition writing manual, there are a number of ways one could write in an unbiased, clear and concise manner. Some of the guidelines for reducing bias include;

• Guideline 1: Describe at the appropriate level of specificity by being specific a writer tends to avoid any underlying stereotypical bias may be associated to the topic or population of interest.
• Guideline 2: A writer has to be considerate and sensitive to labels. A salient example would be the use of the label Orientals in place of a detailed description of participants of Asian origin. Instead a detailed breakdown of how many Vietnamese, North or South Koreans is preferred. Instead, a writer should employ adjectives in place of as nouns.
• Guideline 3: A writer has to effectively acknowledge participation. This is achieved through the use of active voice to portray participation as actors as opposed to being acted on.(American Psychological Association, 2013)

Another important factor to consider is the use of the proper gender sensitive language. This language is an important portrayal of fundamental concepts. A salient example would be the use of humankind, people, humanity or the human species instead of man or mankind. This is further extended to the portrayal of sexual orientation of a target population. For example, instead of saying 200 adolescent homosexuals, it is advisable to clearly depict the gender of the target population, such as 200 gay male adolescents.

References

American Psychological Association. (2013). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington: American Psychological Association.

Hood, L. J., Leddy, S., & Pepper, M. J. (2014). Leddy & Pepper’s conceptual bases of professional nursing (8th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.