Yesterday was exciting and at some points I felt overwhelmed with the knowledge in the room. I took so much from each exercise and speakers throughout the day but the domino game really was an eye opening experience.
Three strangers in many ways learned over a 20 minute period what communication failure can look like especially when barriers seem to pop up, i.e. vision, unclear directions and understanding, noise, and the lack of response and feedback. I felt like a new nurse on the floor during one moment struggling to juggle all the information and weed through the noise to hear what the next step needed to be or see if I could glean one moment of feedback from my partner to know we were on the same path.
By the time I was in the nurse, the game seemed to get easier because communication barriers were lifted. Yet the time barrier seemed to loom over the exercise…three minutes hit and we all took a deep sigh, we did not complete the puzzle, but we were instructed to continue. As we became more comfortable with communication and feedback the team was clicking away at the puzzle. FINALLY the three of us had got it, we had learned from each other and could sift through the distractions and barriers.
A great lesson on communication: You can be the best communicator in the world but the environment and barriers can block you from success. Learning to check and recheck with those that are communicating to you or that you are communicating with is vital in the healthcare arena and life.