One year on and what have I learned?

Looking back over the past year within my role as Patient Client Experience lead and what have I learned?

"Its a waste of a day if you learn nothing new" is a very true statement. I have learned so much and I continue to learn everyday from the people I engage with. The power of words, the importance of giving people a voice even if it is whisper, the difference one person can make and the changes that can come about from really listening are things I took for granted and underestimated before.

The intention within my role is to improve services by giving people a platform to be heard. I am an advocate for the patient, engaging with service users, patients and their families showing empathy and compassion, whilst striving to make every encounter count.  The time to really listen to people and hear what they have to say is priceless and I honestly feel privileged  have the opportunity to dedicate time to listen to others and advocate for them. 

I believe most people think they are good communicators, but what is a "good" communicator? What is communication?. A definition of communication by Wikipedia states "Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information.  Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmits meaning but also creates it". Does this imply then that to be skilled in using "good" communication that we ensure to avoid unintentional or failed transmissions and if so how do we ensure this? I use to think that by attending courses that we would learn everything we would need to know about a topic, now I know that is just the start of the learning and the real learning is through time and practice of the skill. The skill of communicating is no different. When I heard a story, good or bad, I thought I knew how they must have felt in that moment and that they wanted me to do something in response, for example after a bad experience I thought the person must have felt really sad or anger and that they would want me to fix it and the nurse inside me would want to fix it for them.  I quickly realised within this role that I was only assuming that everyone wanted me to "fix it".  I couldn't possible have known exactly how they felt or thought and for most people who shared their stories with me was not looking for a "fix" or someone to make it better, they just wanted someone to hear them and know that they were being listened to. They had the power themselves to fix it, I just had to listen.

Everyday now, I remind myself that words have power and meaning, that no two people are the same and no two experiences are the same, therefore to go in everyday open to what I see, hear and feel. Everyday is a learning day.