Active Listening in Healthcare
Published: 12 November 2019
Published: 12 November 2019
Most of us think of ourselves as ‘good listeners’, and we might be, but we could aim much higher.
Active listening - listening attentively and responding empathically so a person feels heard (Levitt 2001) - should be the goal.
Active listening is a practised skill that requires intellectual and emotional focus.
Effective communication is, of course, necessary to all types of work. It could be argued, however, that in healthcare there is more to lose (such as a person’s life) in the event of poor communication.
A 2011 study by Dr Abraham Verghese, found on average when people sat down to talk to a doctor or nurse in the emergency department, they had roughly 15 seconds before they were interrupted (Verghese 2011 quoted by Ahern 2017).
This article will discuss the concept of active listening and provide you with steps to advance your listening and become a better communicator in and outside of your work.
Active listening is paying complete attention to what another person is saying. It involves listening closely while showing interest and, importantly, refraining from interrupting.
Active listening is about hearing more than what is being said. It is listening not only for content, but also for the intent and feeling of the speaker (Jahromi et al. 2016).
According to Hunsaker and Alessandra, there are four main categories of listeners: non-listener; marginal listener; evaluative listener; and active listener (Hunsaker et al. 2008 quoted by Jahromi et al. 2016).
Active listening is the highest attainable listening category. At its core, active listening has three main criteria:
(Weger Jr. et al. 2014)
The role that active listening plays in effective communication is to signify to another person that what they’re saying is important. This is achieved through using verbal and non-verbal cues.
(Jahromi et al. 2016)
Using body language to show involvement through:
(Jahromi et al. 2016)
A 2014 study on the effectiveness of active listening used 115 participants to test the impact of three types of responses used in conversation: active listening; advice; or simple acknowledgements.
Their results indicated that participants who received active listening responses felt more understood than participants who were provided with advice or acknowledgements. Additionally, rates of satisfaction in the conversation were considered higher in participants who received active listening or advice (Weger Jr. et al. 2014).
Furthermore, participants who scored highly on a measurement called the Active Empathetic Listening scale (AEL) positively aligned with other attributes including social expression, social sensitivity, emotional sensitivity, and social control. These measures are interlinked with a wide range of positive interaction and relationship outcomes (Weger Jr. et al. 2014).
‘Tell me more about that.’
‘Just to make sure that I understand, what you’re saying is...’
‘I’m happy to listen if you want to talk about it.’
‘How did you feel when that happened?’
(Ahern 2017)
Listening attentively and responding empathically so a person feels heard is crucial in healthcare settings as patients are in a vulnerable position and therefore might have difficulty voicing their concerns.
Since you are in the position of power, you should a) create an environment that feels safe to talk in, b) encourage the other person to talk openly, and c) listen actively.
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Question 1 of 3
True or false? It is estimated that we retain roughly 60% of all information that we hear.
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Ausmed’s Editorial team is committed to providing high-quality and thoroughly researched content to our readers, free of any commercial bias or conflict of interest. All articles are developed in consultation with healthcare professionals and peer reviewed where necessary, undergoing a yearly review to ensure all healthcare information is kept up to date. See Educator Profile