The use of Alternative Communications for Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Ward at St’ Paulos Hospital
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Date
2024-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Effective communication is essential in healthcare settings to ensure favourable patient
outcomes and minimize avoidable adverse events. Augmentative and alternative communication
(AAC) strategies play a crucial role in supplementing or replacing verbal communication,
particularly for intubated patients. However, communication barriers persist in healthcare
systems, impacting patient care and psychological well-being. Recognizing and addressing these
barriers is vital to improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. So the main
objective of this research is to explore and describe the existing communication modalities used
by health professionals believe regarding the use of alternative communication or AAC into
patient care in ICU and Emergency units of St. Paulo’s Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. While
conducting the research, a convergent mixed research design was employed to collect data at St.
Paul’s Millennium Medical College. The qualitative phase utilized a phenomenological
approach for sampling 14 participants, while the quantitative phase employed cross-sectional
method for sampling 69 observational representatives. Data analysis was facilitated using NVivo
for qualitative data and SPSS version 22 for quantitative data. The research revealed that the
prevalent communication methods among health professionals was conducted with head
nodding and yes/no gestures being the most common. However, the success rates of these
methods varied, with writing demonstrating 100% success but limited (only 15.9%) usage.
Positive communication behaviours such as improving patient comprehension were noted, but
gaps in suggesting communication strategies to patients were observed. Health professionals
expressed favourable attitudes towards integrating alternative communication modalities,
despite their limited usage at this moment. Generally, this study highlights the prevailing
communication methods and their varying degrees of success among health professionals in the
ICU and Emergency units at St. Paulo’s Hospital. While positive communication behaviours
were evident, there remains a need to address gaps in suggesting communication strategies to
patients. Based on the finding, the favourable attitudes towards alternative communication
modalities suggest potential for enhancing patient care in these settings. It is recommended that
targeted interventions and training programs be developed to improve communication
strategies, thereby enhancing overall patient care and outcomes in the ICU and Emergency unit.
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Keywords
Emergency Ward at St’ Paulos Hospital