The grouped vignettes are titled Listening, Conflict, Sensitivity, The Interview and Roadblocks. During this teaching demonstration, participants will view two vignettes which focus upon listening skills and the use of empathy. They will then be invited to contribute to a group activity from the workbook designed to encourage analysis and discussion of the communication behaviours portrayed in the video. Background The justification for including the study of communication in the curriculum for health professionals includes an understanding that students and practitioners face daily communication situations and challenges. The process of fostering effective interpersonal relationships by practicing and therefore improving specific communication skills is a matter requiring the attention of all health professionals.
Health professionals recognise that interpersonal relationships are central to their care.
Having identified situations, health professionals need then to be given the opportunity to analyse those situations. Communication Skills Effective communication involves the use of many different skills. Choosing the skills to focus upon in the Caring Communication package provided a challenge to the authors. With this knowledge in mind, the decision was made to focus upon skills related to active listening, empathy, and dealing with conflict. The use of questioning, interviewing skills, and communication roadblocks were also chosen by the authors based upon their clinical practice as nurses and years of teaching communication to nursing students.