Communication Basics Quiz

Definition of Communication

• Communication is the exchange of ideas, opinions, emotions, information, and knowledge between a sender and a receiver.

Basic Elements of the Communication Process

• The Referent: motivates a person to communicate, including sights, sounds, odors, time schedules, messages, emotions, and ideas.
• The Sender: the person who delivers the message.
• The Message: the verbal and nonverbal information expressed by the sender.
• The Receiver: the person to whom the message is sent.
• The Channel: the means of conveying and receiving the message through visual, auditory, and tactile senses.
• The Environment: the physical and emotional atmosphere in which the interaction takes place.
• The Feedback: the message returned to the original sender by the receiver, indicating whether the meaning of the sender's message was understood.

Levels of Communication

• Intrapersonal communication: occurs within individuals (self-talk).
• Interpersonal communication: interaction between two people, often face-to-face, commonly used in nursing situations.
• Public communication: interaction with a large group of people, such as giving a lecture to a room full of students.
• Upward communication: lower-level employees communicating with upper management to provide feedback, complaints, or suggestions.
• Downward communication: important information relayed from higher levels to lower-level employees.
• Horizontal communication: communication among people, departments, or teams at the same level in an organization.
• Diagonal communication: communication that crosses all organizational units and hierarchical levels, involving staff members of different departments interacting with each other.

Methods of Communication

• Verbal Communication:
  • Oral: dialogue, discussion, telephone calls.
  • Written: memos, letters, forms, reports, papers, statistics.
  • Electronic: facilitated by interfaces with computers, telephones, fax, internet, and email.
• Nonverbal Communication: the process of communicating through sending and receiving wordless messages.

Communication and Communication Technology

• Email:
  • Allows sending messages and files over the internet.
  • Uses: communicating with colleagues or clients, sending and receiving invoices, sharing text or photo files quickly and easily.
• Blogs:
  • Personal websites used to share content with anyone interested in the subject.
  • Frequently updated web pages used for personal observations.
  • Often interactive, including sections for readers to leave comments.
• Vlogs:
  • Video logs, visual versions of blogs.
  • Increase brand awareness, engage with the audience.
• Podcasts:
  • Audio-based forms of communication.
  • Advantages: creative control over content, on-demand content, building stakeholder relationships.
  • Disadvantages: time-consuming, costly, not accessible to those with hearing impairment.
• Conferencing Technology:
  • Allows multiple people to communicate in real-time from different locations.
  • Advantages: saves time and money, no traveling required, more personal and engaging, increased efficiency and productivity, improves relationships.
  • Disadvantages: finding the appropriate meeting time, constant distractions, meeting fatigue.
• Social Media Platforms:
  • Facebook: the most popular social network.
  • Twitter: provides a steady stream of information and new content from all over the internet.
  • Instagram: one of the youngest social networks.
• Wearable Technology:
  • Examples: smartwatches, medical alert monitors.
  • Smartwatches: make communication quick, easy, and hands-free, useful for professionals who travel frequently.
  • Medical alert monitors: track sleep, stress, fitness activities, and minute-to-minute heart rate.
• Short Message Services (SMS):
  • Allows individuals to send brief messages or images through their smartphones.
  • Useful for sending updates or confirmations to colleagues or clients while in a meeting.
• Forums:
  • Online platforms where people can post and respond to questions.

Benefits of Communication Technology in Healthcare

• The use of ICTs in health, also referred to as e-health, supports healthcare delivery.
• The 5 key benefits of communication technology in healthcare are:
  • Easy access to patient medical records.
  • Reduction in medical errors.
  • Greater patient care.
  • Improved patient education.
  • Reduction in cost.

E-Prescribing and Remote Patient Monitoring

• E-Prescribing:
  • Electronic prescribing refers to doctors providing medical prescriptions on an electronic device and forwarding it to pharmacies.
• Remote Patient Monitoring:
  • Monitoring patients from a remote location using digital technologies.
  • Provides a platform with various communication channels, facilitating collaborative communications.
  • Allows doctors to effectively communicate with patients in case of emergencies without physical visits.