Running head: VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN NURSING 1

Lets See What Visual Communication in Nursing is All About

Parker A. Sulik

Louisiana State University

Author Note

Parker A. Sulik, English 2001 taught by Professor Coco.

This paper is intended for first year nursing students.

VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN NURSING 2

Preface

I believe that my focus for this paper is a 3 because I used good examples throughout the
whole body that directly related to visual communication and kept that theme consistent
throughout the whole paper. My organization is probably a 2 because I organized my thoughts
pretty well but my transitions could be a little stronger. My development could be a 2+ because I
developed my ideas with the pictures of the visuals and gave pretty strong supporting details
about them in my body. I think my audience awareness and voice was a 3 because I felt that my
voice throughout was appropriate for 1st year nursing students while getting the information
across in an objective way.

I think I did well on clearly communicating how each visual benefit each different
audience. In my X-ray paragraph, I talked about how an X-ray is beneficial both to the patient
and to the nurses in doctor in its own unique ways. One concern I had was if I need to properly
close this type of paper of end it with the pitfalls. A question I had was whether or not these
paragraphs with big headings (APA) need stronger transitions or did the headings help the
transition. Another concern I had was if my introduction was strong enough to set the paper in
motion or was it too weak.

The teacher comment draft was very helpful in the way that the teacher helped me with
simple formatting mistakes and also helped guide me on how to improve on the content of the
paper. After the teacher comment draft, I found the flow of my paper to improve dramatically
with better details into the paragraphs with artifacts.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN NURSING 3

Abstract

This paper is about the specific aspects of visual communication in the nursing field and the

different genres found in it. There are three specific examples of visual communication that

nurses often use in this paper; that including x-rays, the Wong-Baker Universal Pain Assessment

Tool, and medical alert bracelets Each of these example benefits either the nurse or patient in

their own unique ways. By explaining these specific genres of visual communication, this paper

is able to clearly portray the importance of visual communication in the medical field. Using an

English article (Demeh, 2007, p. 25), this paper delves into the different pitfalls a nurse may

find while attempting to use visual communication so first year nursing students know how to

avoid these common problems.

Keywords: visual communication, medical alert bracelets, x-rays, Wong-Baker

VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN NURSING 4

Lets See What Visual Communication in Nursing is All About

In order to be a nurse in todays day and age, rigorous schooling and hands on

experiences are essential. Besides those two key components, one vital skill that is needed in

nursing is being able to communicate with other people (doctors, patients, family of patient,

other nurses, physicians, assistant nurses, therapists, etc). One of the most powerful modes of

communication is also the quietest all them all; visual communication. It is necessary for nurses

to master this mode along with becoming more than capable of using the different genres within

the realm of visual communication. The various genres found in visual conversing include that of

charts, graphs, pamphlets, articles, and more. Three specific genres of visual communication that

nurses use are x-rays, the Wong-Baker FACES Pain rating scale, medical alert bracelets.

Examples of Visual Communication in Nursing

X-Ray

A nurse has a responsibility of relaying information for the doctor and the patients. It is

important for patients to get a clear and logical picture of what ailment or injury they are dealing

with and how the doctor and nurse plans on handling it. One way the nurse can do this is by

showing the patient an x-ray or other scan of the patients injury. An example of an x-ray can be

found in the appendix of this paper.

If someone was to fall on their shoulder and pop it out of place, an x-ray would not only

confirm that for the patient but it would also give the doctors or the nurses the blueprint to begin

treatment of that injury. Through x-rays and other types of scans, peace of mind and confidence

is given to the patients while the nurse is able to clearly diagnose the problem. The doctors and

nurses were able to see through this particular x-ray that the humerus bone was out of socket in a
VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN NURSING 5

position that they would be able to fix without invasive treatment. With the x-ray, the medical

staff knew what techniques they could use to relocate the displaced bone.

Wong-Bakers Universal Pain Assessment Tool

Nurses take care of all kinds of different patients that range from babies to the elderly.

One thing that most patients experience and can find hard to relay to the nurses is the pain of

their injury. Developed by Donna Lee Wong and Connie Baker in 1983, this tool was created

with children for children to help them communicate about their pain. Now the scale is used

around the world with people ages 3 and older, facilitating communication and improving

assessment so pain management can be addressed. (Wong-Baker FACES History.) Through

the use of the Wong-Bakers Universal Pain Assessment Tool, patients can describe their pain

with more accuracy.

Figure 1. Universal Pain Assessment Tool

Source: Universal Pain Assessment Tool

The Wong-Baker FACES uses visual communication by portraying different emotions

(through the use of faces) that the patient can see and relate to their own emotions. The faces

make this a very emotional piece of visual communication. Each has specific details that the

patients can relate. With no pain, a patients facial expressions include smiling and with an active
VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN NURSING 6

look (eyebrows up and not distracted by the pain). As more and more pain comes onto a patient,

they may start to wince in pain more and more and their smile (0) could go from no smile (4) to a

grimace from the pain (10).

As seen in Figure 1, the colors of the faces can correspond to the level of pain as well.

The no pain face is green which could strike the patient as a healthy color and is a brighter,

happier color. As it goes to more moderate pain (4), the colors are a very dark blue and very dark

purple. If a patient sees these faces with these colors it could make them think that is a dull

almost annoying pain that cant be ignored any longer. The severe pain face is a popping orange

color and the worst pain possible face is bloodshot red. The bright orange and red are colors that

we see in the real world that often tell us to stop or slow down (stop signs or red lights),

internally knowing that, the patients would want the pain to stop in the same way.

Once the patient is able to connect his or her own emotions to the faces, they will be able

to tell the nurse what number on the pain scale they are experiencing. Now that the nurse has a

number, he or she can easily write that down along with the other information to relay that to the

doctor. It changes from a very emotional type of visual communication to a very logical and

straightforward visual communication for the nurses and doctors. A 9 or 10 on the pain scale is a

clear indicator for the medical staff that the patients injury or ailment needs to be tended to and

that patient needs more attention than a patient with 1 or 2 on the pain scale.

Medical Alert Bracelets

Communication is a leading contributing factor for sentinel events that occur in the

healthcare setting. One method to assist with effective communication is using color coding for

alert wristbands. This provides a simplified tool that, when standardized, provides a continuous

communication link within an organization as well as between other healthcare facilities.

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(Minnesota Hospital Association, 2007, p. 13)

Figure 2. Medical Alert Bracelets

Source: The 5 Different Colors of Medical Alert Bracelets

Medical bracelets are a very logical and efficient way for nurses and doctors to spot

specific information about that certain patient. Seen in Figure 2, the different medical bands

range from a purple DNR (Do not Resuscitate), red allergy, yellow fall risk, pink restricted
VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN NURSING 8

extremity, and green latex allergy. With the words being big and concise along with consistent

and unique colors, these bands can help the nurses quickly recognize a detail that needs attention

while minimizing mistakes.

An example of when these visual cues can be helpful in the medical workplace would be

if a patient told the nurse that they are allergic to latex. A nurse could put the green latex allergy

bracelet on the patient so all other doctors and nurses could quickly spot that bracelet and make

sure to not use latex; minimizing mistakes and problems revolving around that patient. Falls

account for more than 70 percent of the total injury-related health cost among people 60 years of

age and older. (Minnesota Hospital Association, 2007, p. 9) As seen in those statistics, an

elderly person may need extra help getting around the hospital and the bright yellow fall risk

bracelets on their wrist can help make sure the nurses take the precautions necessary.

Pitfalls of Visual Communication

Some people may believe that when a nurse is a weak communicator, it could be that they

just are not a people person. But after studies of nurses in England, it was found that main

reason nurses are not strong communicators is through a lack of training. (Demeh, 2007, p. 25)

Nurses need to take time to hone in on the skills needed to visually communicate and that comes

through awareness and practice. A pitfall with the visual mode of communicating in nursing is

that specific patients may be incapable of using that mode. (Demeh, 2007, p. 25) An easy

example to grasp would be a blind patient or someone with an eye injury. It would be an

inefficient use of time if a nurse gave a patient with some kind of eye injury a paper to read about

their discharge instructions. Another mode of communication such as verbal would be needed to

accomplish this task. The specific genres of visual communication can also have their own

pitfalls.
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X-rays and other types of visual scans can lead to complications if the nurses get

lackadaisical. If the nurse doesnt take enough x-rays of the bone or x-rays the wrong angle, the

nurse or doctor may not have the correct information to fix the problem or they could miss

something such as a small fracture in a bone. An x-ray is used for bones so it would be useless to

use an x-ray to diagnose a muscular problem or a torn ligament.

When it comes to the Wong-Bakers Universal Pain Assessment Tool, this chart is not

perfect due to the fact that it is a patients opinion on his or her own pain which could be

exaggerated, but it is still a highly useful start for the nurses or doctors.

As for the medical alert bracelets, a pitfall could be that the nurses arent accustomed to

the use of this new technique and could forget to check the patients wrists. The bracelets arent

big enough to hold a lot of information about the patient so it could be seen as very one

dimensional.

Conclusion

Even though visual communication can have its own pitfalls, this way of communication

is used by medical staff every day. Becoming comfortable using the visual mode of

communication comes through experience and training, both which are achievable for anyone.

X-rays, Wong-Baker Pain Tool, and medical alert bracelets all benefit the nurse, doctor, and

patients in their own unique aspects.

X-rays provide comfort to the patient by keeping them updated on their condition and

injury all while providing necessary information for the nurse and doctor. The Wong-Baker Pain

Tool is a valuable way for nurses to get a starting point on diagnosing a patients ailment and

condition. Medical alert bracelets help nurses spot specific information about a patient and helps

minimize mistakes. In order to get more comfortable with visual communication, Id propose to
VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN NURSING 10

use graphs, charts, and other tools often with patients in order to get more comfortable with the

mode.

References

Baker, C. (n.d.). Wong-Baker FACES History. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from

http://wongbakerfaces.org/us/wong-baker-faces-history/

Baker, W. (n.d.). Universal Pain Assessment Tool. Retrieved February 16, 2017, from

http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/media/2701203/faces_scale_tool.pdf

D'emeh, W. M. (2007). A description of communication patterns used by baccalaureate nursing

students when interacting with patients in the clinical setting (Order No. 3300845).

available from Nursing & Allied Health Database. (304808393). Retrieved from

https://search.proquest.com/docview/304808393?accountid=12154

Hockenberry, M. J., & Wilson, D. (2013). Wong's essentials of pediatric nursing (9th ed.). St.
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Louis, MO: Mosby.

Minnesota Hospital Association. (2007, November). Color-coded Wristband Standardization in

Minnesota. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from

http://www.mnhospitals.org/portals/0/documents/ptsafety/wristband-toolkit.pdf

Sulik, P. A. (2015, March 16). Shoulder X-Ray [Photograph]. Baton Rouge.

The 5 Different Colors of Medical Alert Bracelets. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2017, from

http://endurid.com/2013/06/17/the-5-different-colors-of-medical-alert-bracelets/

Appendix
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Sulik, P. A. (2015, March 16). Shoulder X-Ray [Photograph]. Baton Rouge.