Communication for Nurses: Talking with Patients

As a nurse educator and clinical nursing instructor, I have searched several years for just such a book with little success until now. We teach therapeutic communication techniques in the classroom and encourage students to practice with patients, but I find that students and new graduates still struggle to feel comfortable with these techniques. I was easily able to incorporate the case study and role play exercises from this text into my clinical in-services. The exercises were in groups of three with one student as the nurse, one as the patient, and one as an observer to take note of the communication interactions. The groups became beehives of discussion, which is always a delight for any instrutor. After practicing several scenarios in the small groups, I had each group discuss their interactions with the class. The students were full of great communication ideas and examples. As they discussed their interactions, I was able to educate them on and point out barriers to and enhancers of communication, cultural and social differences in communication, and guided communication for goal attainment (to name a few). I found this setting for communication technique practice to be especially helpful to the more timid students. From the perspective of the students, they commented that the exercises were "a fun way to learn" and "very helpful". I'm looking forward to using these case studies and exercises regularly!