A Nurse’s Guide to Effective Communication Skills

Nurses spend hours developing practical skills for their profession, but many nonprocedural skill sets are vital to being an effective healthcare provider. Communication tops the list as one of the most important interpersonal skills necessary to provide patients with quality care. During treatment, establishing an effective relationship with the patient is essential. 

Effective communication with patients, families, and colleagues is imperative to build and manage relationships as a nurse. Communicating well is not simply a desirable character attribute, but a job requirement for quality patient care.

Types of Communication

Having conversational skills is only part of developing solid communication habits. As a nurse, your bedside manner will be perceived as a combination of both verbal and nonverbal communication. Both types of communication require intentional effort and awareness to positively impact relationships with patients. 

• Verbal Communication: The words you choose will vary depending on your audience. Be aware of their age, healthcare knowledge, relationship to the patient, circumstances, etc. Keep your verbal communication approachable and appropriate, and remember that the person you’re talking to most likely does not experience the healthcare system as a routine. You are their connection to their providers, treatment plans, and overall experience. Your words are important.
• Nonverbal Communication: Even if you say exactly the right thing, your nonverbal communication could cause your words to be misinterpreted or missed completely. Be intentional with your body language – think eye contact, tone, facial expressions, and more. Pro tip: try to sit down when you can to get on the same level as the person you’re talking to. This will help show sincerity and create a stronger connection.

The Four Cs of Communication in Nursing

Patient care can suffer and relationships lose trust when communication is not clear. Interactions with colleagues, patients, and families are dependent on quality communication. When evaluating your communication habits, try focusing on the four Cs – keep things Clear, Concise, Correct, and Complete.

CLEAR

Medical jargon can often be confusing. Focus on plain language that most clearly communicates to patients across all backgrounds and situations. When you keep your language simple, you can nurture a two-way conversation rather than just talking “at” the patient. To keep your communication clear, focus on summarizing, slowing down, outlining action steps, and incorporating examples. Ask open-ended questions, and practice active listening with a desire to understand. A procedure might be routine for you but could be weighing heavily on a patient or their family member. Clear communication from both sides of the conversation will help keep things as positive as possible for everyone.

CONCISE

Avoid sharing too much information at once. Patients may not be as able to absorb as much health information as you assume, depending on their background and experience. Focus on the key things and action items they need to know, and document conversations well so you can pick up where you need to during the next interaction. Summarize often, and pay attention to cues to make sure you are on the same page.

CORRECT

Provide patients with accurate information that is updated and reliable. Don’t offer an answer to a question you don’t know – simply tell them you’ll work on finding out that information. This honesty and follow-up will establish trust and show others that you mean what you say. Sometimes that might mean connecting patients with the right provider or resources to answer a question that you can’t. 

COMPLETE

Communicating completely will involve as much listening as talking. You want to understand what the patient might need to be clarified, where they have any confusion, or what questions they have that you might not have thought about. When you focus on two-way conversations, your communication will be significantly more effective. Ending conversations with an open-ended question will often lead the conversation to anything else that needs to be covered.

How to Overcome Communication Barriers

When you’re considering your verbal and nonverbal communication, and working to keep things clear, concise, correct, and complete, there can still be factors that change how your message is received. Dawn Weaver identifies three common types of communication barriers in nursing: physical, social, and psychological.

• Physical: Your environment can be a physical barrier to getting your message communicated clearly. Be considerate of where you deliver news about health updates. Be observant of patient room environments and what might be distracting or bothersome. Be willing to adjust a patient’s surroundings based on their preferences so they can more effectively hear and understand what you are communicating to them.
• Social: Every patient and their family or loved ones will have different circumstances. Be considerate of their language, age, culture, religion, and more. Staying aware of these factors will help avoid unintentional prejudice or miscommunication.  
• Psychological: Stress and anxiety are important considerations in all communication with patients and loved ones. Going to the doctor can be extremely stressful for many people. Some may have past trauma with previous healthcare situations that you’re not aware of. Nurses themselves might have or develop their own psychological barriers that come from personal experience or professional difficulties. Working to stay aware of potential psychological barriers will help establish empathy and drive clearer communication.

You won’t always know or recognize communication barriers in your patient care conversations. But just working to be aware of them—and minimizing them when you can—will greatly increase how effectively you communicate with others.

Qualities of Effective Communication Skills in Nursing

Good communication between nurses and patients is essential for successful outcomes in care. Some qualities behind effective communication in nursing include:

• Courtesy: Courtesy is showing politeness in both attitude and behavior toward others. Maintaining a courteous nature in the pressure-filled field of nursing, especially when you are a travel nurse or are working odd shifts, takes intentional effort. This effort is essential to achieve good communication.
• Kindness: Being friendly and considerate in patient interactions is foundational to effective communication. Without kindness, hardly any successful communication can happen.
• Sincerity: As a nurse, you are a trusted figure during a vulnerable time. You’re often a trusted point of contact during stress. Patients will feel your sincerity, which can help messages be more clearly communicated.

These qualities may sound simple, but the demands of healthcare can often make simple habits hard to keep or remember. A focus on these foundational attributes will help all of your communication come across more clearly, and help you be a better provider.

SHC’s Commitment to Care

Caring for patients is Supplemental Health Care’s top priority. Our quality assurance team is always working to educate and support our nurses. We offer continuing education (CEUs) to help our nurses stay up-to-date and prepared to offer the highest quality patient care.

Search our open opportunities today to find your next assignment, or reach out to our recruiting team to learn more about the variety of nursing opportunities available at SHC.