Advanced Communication Skills

Become an effective communicator in your field. Enhance your patients’ care and wellbeing, and eliminate the serious consequences of poor communication.

Poor communication has serious repercussions for patient care. As a health and social care professional, you’ll want to ensure you’re equipped with the sort of communications skills which can enhance the care and safety of your patients, and relieve their suffering.

This course will encourage you to reflect on the importance of good communication and to explore the theory of communication in complex situations. You’ll have opportunities to practice and critically review your micro-skills in a safe environment, enabling you to develop increased self-awareness about your own performance. You’ll learn to identify stressors prevalent in this work so that you can broaden your repertoire of coping strategies.

As part of your studies, you will:

• explore your own communication learning needs
• gain a solid understanding of the importance of good communication
• study the theory of communication in complex situations
• practice and critically review your micro-skills in a safe environment
• develop reflexivity and increased self-awareness in relation to your own performance
• extend your repertoire of coping strategies

Course content

• The process of communication
• Core communication skills (including empathy, honesty & self-awareness)
• Micro-communication skills
• Understanding & dealing with anger & distress
• Handling difficult issues, including breaking bad news & collusion
• Communication with colleagues
• Caring for the self
• Professional responsibilities
• Cultural issues

Assessment
Your success on this programme will be determined on the basis of a 6,000-word assignment in which you will critically analyse and reflect on your personal performance. Analysis will take into account relevant literature, research and underpinning theory.

Certification
The three-day workshop, central to this module, will result in an NHS-approved Advanced Communication Skills certificate.