Communication Skills for Nurses

Over a third of all consultations in general practice are now conducted by nurses. The consultation is the key element of primary care, with patients being more satisfied with the care given by clinicians who have good communication skills. Poor communication or dissatisfaction with a consultation is reported to be one reason why patients decide not to attend or do not take a prescribed treatment. Patients need to be satisfied with the consultation, understand their condition and understand the reasons for their treatment or management plan. This book has been written to reinforce good consultation and communication skills and highlights areas where readers might wish to to review and improve their own consultation techniques. This is done though case studies and scenarios that are likely to be common in many practices. Although the text and scenarios relate to practice nurse consultations, the content can be transferred to all primary care nursing settings.

Keywords: nursing, communication skills, patient-centred care, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, disability, barriers to communication, ethics, minority groups, confidentiality, children, adolescents