Communication in the Healthcare Organization: The Perceived use of Rhetoric among Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

The study of communication was born with the study of rhetoric, and scholars have been examining the creation and reception of messages for thousands of years. However, the term rhetoric often has negative connotations, as we hear people label some statement as “just rhetoric” or we hear them say, “The action doesn't match the rhetoric.” However, rhetoric is a style of communication that takes into account the effective use of both verbal and non-verbal languages, and it is one of the main ingredients in the day to day communication in organizations, healthcare organizations being no exception. It is virtually impossible to communicate without the use of rhetoric. This study focused on healthcare organizations because the delivery of healthcare is built on communication, and there is more to understand about the usage of language and organizational rhetoric in healthcare organizations. To these effects, the study examined communication in healthcare organizations and the perceived use of rhetoric among healthcare professionals; it explored how healthcare professionals perceive communication with their audiences, how the use of rhetoric, as perceived by healthcare professionals, affects communication in healthcare organizations and the contribution of rhetoric, as perceived by healthcare professionals, in motivating healthcare audience in healthcare organizations. The five canons of rhetoric were employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as tools for data collection. While contributing to existing literature on health and organizational communication, this study will also contribute in providing both government and private organizations insights into the use of rhetoric in professional communication with the hope of enhancing the quality of communication in the workplace.