There are many challenges for effective listening within the pharmacy workplace, including interruptions, time pressures and ongoing activities. We need to recognise the many barriers that will reduce our ability to listen effectively.

Internal barriers

The listener may be the health professional or the patient, and each will experience barriers to effective listening.

We tend to listen more closely to and communicate better with people who use similar language to ourselves. However, in a patient consultation, we need to accept that we need to communicate with people who use different words and language. A failure to open the mind to different communication modes will hinder listening.

From the patient's perspective, the use of professional and medical jargon is as much a barrier to effective listening on their part, as is a patient's use of ambiguous or non-medical language to the pharmacist. It is essential not to make prior assumptions about a patient's communication. Self-opinionated listeners generally reject the speaker's views and this can hamper the pharmacist-patient relationship, as the professional knows best.

The emotional state we find ourselves in can either facilitate or block effective listening, but stress, anger, eagerness or fear should not be allowed to disrupt a patient consultation. An inability to perceive the tone of a speaker's voice, loudness or pitch may lead to ineffective listening.

Pharmacists must be able to pick up on these non-verbal cues of language. Difficulty with understanding each other's language or dialect will also be a barrier.

External factors

External factors include noise and distractions, including activities undertaken by others in the work environment. Temperature and light can impact upon attention.

This is important in a pharmacy setting and specifically the consulting room. A glaring bright light or wall can disturb the concentration of listener. A room that is too cold or hot will not be conducive to an effective consultation.