Nursing is a profession of immense responsibility.

A nurse, through her undivided attention and care, can heal a patient and make him feel good about himself (Cited from buzzle.article, 2011) As illucitated by Elisa Finn, 2012 a successful nurse and patient relationship begins with a caring nurse and a receptive patient. People who need nursing care are sometimes resistant, in pain and worried. A strong nurse, who understands her patient's illness and mental state, is instrumental in a patient's recovery and comfort. A trustworthy, respectful relationship between nurse and patient supports healing and reduces anxiety in the patient and his family. As stated by Aastha Dogra from her article,2011 Problems arise when the nurse is not able to perform her duties efficiently, due to the various communication barriers that we observe these days. Those barriers commonly came from the primary problem in this worldwhich is the shortage of personnel in the nursing profession. Besides this, a major problem that is being faced is the inability of the nurses to understand the English language. With a large percentage of the nursing staff a whole lot of language barriers are being seen. These barriers can be between the patient and the nurse or between the doctor and the nurse as well. If the nurse does not understand English properly, she might not be able to attend to the needs of the patient as efficiently as someone who speaks the same language and belongs to the same culture. This can leave many a patient feel dissatisfied and uncared for. And if the nurse is not able to understand the doctor, there can be a potential risk to the patient's life. The nurse might administer wrong medicine to the patient or might give the wrong dosage. This can deteriorate the patient's condition in many cases. Another communication barrier that is often created between the nurses and their patients is due to the usage of medical terms by the nurses while interacting with the patients. Most of the patients are unable to understand these medical terms and hence don't know what the nurse is talking about. That's why, whenever nurses talk to their patients, they should use very simple language. If they are using a medical term, they should offer an easy explanation for the same immediately, for the patient's benefit. One very common mistake nurses make is to not involve the patient while talking to the doctor about his condition. In such cases, the patient might feel ignored and will not be very forthcoming while expressing his needs, his condition, etc., to the nurse, thus causing breakdown of communication between the two. A nurse should come across as someone who is warm, caring and genuinely interested in the patient's speedy recovery. She should establish a good rapport with the patient. Only then will the patient open-up to her. Gender was also consider a barrier while it is certainly a generalization with many evident exceptions, men and women sometimes differ in their communication styles. Many people believe, for example, that women tend to be more adept at reading

nonverbal cues and are more comfortable than men are with close physical proximity when communicating with another individual. Recent developments in brain imaging techniques indicate possible gender-based differences in the speech centers of men and women, and it will be interesting to follow this science as it develops (Williams, 2001). That said, as with any generalization, it is important to avoid relying on rigid preconceptions based on stereotypical gender-based differences. Lastly, cultural differences are one of the main hindrance to communication between the patient and the nurse. There are some cultures which place restrictions on how much the human body should be exposed, touched, etc. If the nurse is unaware of these ethnic peculiarities and does not take these into consideration while performing follow-up care on the patient, it can make the patient highly uncomfortable. Moreover, in some cultures, certain illnesses may be actually considered normal and thus, the patient may not be very forthcoming in telling about its symptoms to the nurse or the doctor, this can further pose to be an impediment to his getting well. By being an active listener, by being sensitive, by efficiently using non verbal means of communication, such as touch, gestures and facial expressions, as well as verbal communication techniques, like asking open ended questions so as to encourage conversation, acknowledging the thoughts and feelings of the patient by talking to him, by summarizing what the patient is unable to properly explain, a nurse can break the above-mentioned communication barriers. This will help in establishing a strong nursepatient relationship and lead to better assessment as well as formulation of health care plans for the patient. According to research by Press Ganey Associates Inc.,Without a positive nurse patient relationship, there cannot be patient and family satisfaction. And there cannot be an environment that supports anxiety reduction and healing.