Communication Skills

Dr Kay Norman is Head of Practice Learning and Partnership for the Three Counties School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Worcester. Kay has held senior clinical, academic and management posts in nursing within a variety of healthcare organisations and universities. As a Registered Nurse and Specialist Practitioner, her clinical background focused on primary care and community nursing. Her current role involves working with practice partners, students and academic staff to deliver innovative learning experiences for pre-registration nursing and midwifery students. Kay’s research interests include the image of nursing, coaching and supervision in practice. She has published in peer-reviewed journals, written book chapters and edited a professional portfolio textbook, and presented her research at professional conferences.

About the authors; Introduction



1. Communication as a concept

Kay Norman and Erica Pavord

     1.1 Introduction

     1.2 Defining communication

     1.3 Communication frameworks

     1.4 The transmission model

     1.5 The transactional model

     1.6 Channels of communication

     1.7 Self-awareness in communication

     1.8 Reflective practice

     Summary



2. Communication skills in assessing, planning providing and managing care

Pádraig Ó Lúanaigh

     2.1 Introduction

     2.2 Verbal and non-verbal communication

     2.3 Active listening and appropriate questioning

     2.4 Emotional vocabulary

     2.5 Caring conversations

     2.6 Brief interventions

     2.7 Duty of candour

     2.8 Written communication

     2.9 Social media and electronic communication

     2.10 Sharing information effectively

     Summary



3. Communication skills in promoting health

Alison Lewis

     3.1 Introduction

     3.2 Assessing motivation for change

     3.3 Explaining and evidence-based approach to health

     3.4 Strategies for disseminating information

     3.5 Addressing common health risk behaviours

     Summary



4. Communication skills for therapeutic intervention

Erica Pavord

     4.1 Introduction

     4.2 Developing a therapeutic relationship

     4.3 Motivational interviewing

     4.4 Reminiscence therapies

     4.5 De-escalation strategies and techniques

     4.6 Distraction and diversion strategies

     Summary



5. Communication skills in difficult situations

Louise Carter

     5.1 Introduction

     5.2 Demonstrating compassion and sensitivity

     5.3 Communication vulnerability and ageing

     5.4 Sensory impairment

     5.5 Aphasia

     5.6 Dementia

     5.7 Breaking bad news

     Summary



6. Communication and diversity

Naomi A. Watson

     6.1 Introduction

     6.2 Embracing diversity

     6.3 In what ways are we diverse?

     6.4 Communicating with diverse colleagues

     Summary



7. Communication skills for teamworking

Kay Norman

     7.1 Introduction

     7.2 Strengths-based approaches

     7.3 Negotiation strategies

     7.4 Collaborative working

     7.5 Organisational culture

     7.6 Dealing with team conflict

     7.7 Supervising others

     Summary



8. Communication for patient safety

Val Nixon

     8.1 Introduction

     8.2 Development of patient safety

     8.3 Incident reporting

     8.4 A human factors approach to patient safety

     8.5 Learning from errors

     Summary



Index