Running head: VMOCITNF 1

Visual Mode of Communication in the Nursing Field

Report on Communication Mode

Rachel E. Tregre

Louisiana State University

Author Note

This paper was written to show the visual mode of communication in the nursing field. The class
is taught by Ms. Jean Coco. This draft will be reviewed by Ms. Jean Coco to make the paper
better.
VMOCITNF 2

Abstract

The paper is about the visual mode of communication in the nursing field. Knowing that

there are several forms of communication available such as oral, nonverbal, verbal, and written,

visual communication plays a significant role in the nursing field. There are three visual

examples used in my paper that would be portrayed in a hospital. The three examples are an Ear,

Nose, and Throat chart, a Blood and Body Fluid Safety chart, and a pamphlet for Safer Sex. Each

of these examples are helpful by allowing patients who are deaf to have a visual mode of

communication. However, my paper also talks about the pitfalls that can happen from using this

type of communication.

Keywords: visual communication, Ear, Nose, and Throat, Bloody and Body Fluid Safety,

Safer sex
VMOCITNF 3

Preface

In the focus category, I rated myself a 3 because I feel that I know what my topic is about
and am on top of it. For organization, I rate myself a 3 because I feel that my paper is now in the
correct order and is in APA format. In the development category, I rate myself a 2 because I feel
that the flow could improve, but I made my introduction flow more with the leading of the body
paragraphs. The audience awareness and voice would be a 3 because I feel that the audience
would understand what is being said and have a clear understanding of the text.

Out of the three body paragraphs that I have wrote about for visual communication, I
choose the Blood and Body Fluid Safety chart. I chose this one because I believe that it gives me
pictures and information about my source, which really helped for the mode, visual. The
revisions I made after my teacher conference was going into more detail about my other two
sources. I feel that everything is developed better and is clearer. The revisions that I question are
if I wrote the paragraphs in the right order and if I did the rough draft portfolio correctly. The
questions I have for my paper is if the format is correct. I believe that the format could look a lot
smoother and needs more time and work put into it.

From having Ms. Jean Cocos responses to the midterm portfolio draft, I have learned
how to make my paper stronger. The comments that were helpful were the ones about the APA
format. The question that was confusing was the one about the .com sources. I am not sure what
a website evaluation is, so I thought that this was confusing for me. The revisions that I question
were the ones asking me to include the visual in the paper because the visual picture is in my
paper.
VMOCITNF 4

Visual Mode of Communication in the Nursing Field

A nurse is supposed to be able to communicate with his or her patients in an effective

manner. Moreover, nurses should understand the many types of communication and learn the

concept of each. The diverse types of communication are visual, oral, nonverbal, and written.

Visual communication, is an effective way of communication for patients who are deaf, or

unable to read, and it is extremely essential that hospitals give patients the opportunity to

communicate in different forms. Through this, visual communication can be helpful for patients

to understand background information on diagrams (for the ear, nose, and throat), understand

blood and body fluid safety, and how to have safer sex.

Examples of Visual Communication in Nursing

Ear, Nose, and Throat

The audience for the visual text is the ones observing the picture. It is the patients

who come into the doctors office and examine the pictures on the wall when they are waiting for

the doctor to come in. The message the visual picture explains is showing patients the ear, nose,

and throat of our body. It wants readers to have some background information on these things in

order to have an idea of their body parts. The purpose the picture has is to allow the audience to

be able to identify the things the doctor comes in to tell them. For example, if a doctor came in

and told the patient that they had a problem with their cochlea, the patients could read about it

prior to the doctor entering the room and understand that it is the spiral cavity of the inner

ear. This could be helpful by saving time not only for patients, but for the nurse as well. The

picture connects with the audience through logical appeal.

VMOCITNF 5

Figure 1. Ear, Nose, and Throat

Source: Westwood, William B.

Blood and Body Fluid Safety

The audience for the visual text is for family members. Nurses want to use this example

to inform families of germs and how easily they can spread from person-to-person. The message

that this text is explaining is steps to prevent infectious diseases, such as HCV, HBV, or HIV. It

wants people to understand how easy it is to spread these infections from not following standard

precautions, such as covering a open cut with a bandage. This would prevent other people from

coming into contact with another persons blood. The purpose that this diagram explains is

wanting people to know how important it is to follow these standard precautions and gives

examples on how to teach your children about germs in fun ways. An example that the source

gives is after a child touches something dirty, the parents could put glitter on their hand, which

would act as the germs. They could also make a trail of the glitter which could show how germ

spreads. This would allow children to see how easy germs are spread in a fun way. The appeal
VMOCITNF 6

that is made in this source is ethical by showing the good of following standard precautions and

the bad of not following them.

Figure 2: Blood and Body Fluid Safety

Source: Griffin, Wendy.

Safer Sex

The audience in the visual text below is all types of people, either heterosexual,

bisexual, or homosexual. The message of this source is to allow all types of people to understand

the concept of safe sex. It wants to show that no matter what sex a person is and who they are in

a relationship with, they can still be at risk for a sexually transmitted disease. It wants to teach

people ways to lower the risk of infections during sex and ways to prevent them. The example

below, next to the Safer Sex brochure cover page, shows the inside of the brochure. In the

example, the audience can visualize what is happening; it is understood that the male received an

infection in his genitals from not following standard precautions. The purpose of this source is to

let patients visually learn the importance of safe sex, and understand that it is alright for them to

have sex if they use precautions, such as condoms, to prevent these infections from happening.
VMOCITNF 7

Figure 3: Safer Sex

Source: Fenway Communication Health

Common Pitfalls

The common pitfall for the first body paragraph about the ear, nose, and throat chart

would be miscommunication. It could be miscommunication from the patients coming into the

hospital with a problem and believing they have the same problem as the patient does on the

chart. This could lead patients to believing that something more severe is wrong with them than

it is, just from viewing the chart by themselves. This could lead them to become a

hypochondriac. Hypochondriacs tend to believe something is wrong with them when nothing is

(Moglia, 2017). An example would be if a patient looks at the chart and the person on the chart

has something wrong with their ear, they could believe that they have the same problem if their

ear is hurting. A common pitfall for the blood and body fluid safety chart would be getting an

infection from not following these standard precautions. For instance, if a person forgot to wash

their hands after contact with blood, they could get an infection or transfer the infection to

another individual. This is the reason why it is important for patients to follow these standard

precautions to prevent these infections. The common pitfall for the Safer Sex Brochure could be

false communication. People could believe that they will get these infections if they do not
VMOCITNF 8

follow these certain criterias, however everyone is different meaning that just because they do

not follow these rules does not necessarily mean that they will get the disease.

Conclusion

Visual communication is a fantastic way to communicate to patients with disabilities,

however, it can have many pitfalls. It can be a great and effective communication technique for

teaching an ear, nose, and throat chart, blood and body fluid safety, and a safer sex brochure to a

person that is deaf. Visual communication gives these people an advantage to learn information

in a form most understandable to them.

The ear, nose, and throat chart gives patients the ability to examine the chart to see the

inside of their body and have background information on it prior to the doctor coming in. The

blood and body fluid safety chart shows families a way to prevent germs from spreading. The

safer sex brochure is a great visual example to teach sexually active people how to prevent the

transmission of sexual diseases.

VMOCITNF 9

References

Fenway Communication Health. (2008). Safe Sex Brochure. Received from

http://fenwayhealth.org/documents/publications/Fenway_safe_sex_brochure_generic_NE

W.pdf

Griffin, Wendy. (2011). Standard Precautions for Your Family. PKIDs Blog.

Recieved from https://blog.pkids.org/category/standard-precautions-2/

Moglia, P. P. (2017). Hypochondriasis. MagillS Medical Guide (Online Edition)

Westwood, William B. (Medical Illustrations). (1991, 1999, 2000, 2002). Ear, Nose, and Throat

[digital image]. Retrieved from http://www.shopanatomical.com/v/vspfiles/photos/ACC-

1161-2.jpg
VMOCITNF 10