In my career as a medical social worker, effective communication is going to be a high priority. I have chosen three key communication skills that I believe I will have to put into practice as a medical social worker:
1. Listening: Listening is a very important communication skill. When listening to someone, a person has to tune out everything else around them, and what may be running through their mind, and concentrate and focus on the person they are listening to. As a medical social worker, I am going to be listening to people with terminal illnesses, and their families, and will have to discern what their needs are when they leave the hospital to be cared for at home by hospice or family members. As the situation is already a very tense one because a person is in the end stage of their life, good listening is very important so as not to add further stress or anxiety by misinterpreting what is being told to me. Close, focused listening is very important.
2. Communicating with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures: As a medical social worker, I am going to have to do my homework on the different culture groups I will be serving as I do not want to offend someone by saying something disrespectful toward their culture or sound uninformed about their culture.
3. Communicating ethically: As a medical social worker, I may be in situations where a person wants help dying or wants me to obtain help for them and their family in a manner that is not ethical. People near the end of life may feel desparate for help and may want me to do anything I can, even if it is not ethical, to help them. I will have to strictly adhere to the ethics of my profession and communicate clearly to the patient and the family that I will stick to the ethical guidelines so as to serve the patient and family, as well as future patients and families with integrity.
