Essential Skills and Principles for Providing Professional Patient Care in the NHS

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About the course

While clinical expertise is crucial to good practice, nurses must possess and be able to demonstrate a broad variety of soft skills in order to construct amiable, yet professional, relationships with patients and their relatives, as well as with colleagues.

This two-day course aims to consolidate the delegate's knowledge of clinical consultation skills and tailor it to what is expected within the NHS. Each delegate will be invited to participate in dedicated sessions on communication skills, the topics of which are outlined below. Relatable and immersive scenarios will be employed to imitate the situations experienced by nurses in everyday practice in the NHS and to enable delegates to strengthen their performance. Every participant will have ample opportunity to enact and engage in a number of role-play scenarios, prompting him or her to identify areas of weakness and improve upon these in order to be fully equipped to undertake a valuable role in the NHS.

Delivered by doctors and advanced linguistic specialists, the sessions will focus on literary and linguistic aspects, British phrases, colloquial terminologies, mannerisms, and interpersonal skills, all within the context of the NHS. With a high tutor-to-delegate ratio, it is ideally positioned for those with limited experience in a UK hospital setting and for those who have not trained in the UK.

The scenarios will discuss:

  • Giving information to the patient
  • Gathering information from the patient
  • Managing a challenging patient (on the ward and in the clinic)
  • Managing a challenging colleague or workplace situation
  • Dealing with an angry patient (on the ward and in the clinic)
  • Dealing with an angry relative
  • Consoling an upset or distressed patient (on the ward and in the clinic)
  • Consoling an upset or distressed relative
  • Speaking with relatives/friends of the patient whilst maintaining patient confidentiality
  • Supporting a clinician whilst he/she breaks bad news to a patient and/or a relative
  • Supporting a clinician whilst he/she explains a diagnosis or a procedure to a patient and/or a relative
  • Importance of informed consent and confidentiality
  • Medical ethics and professionalism

Through these scenarios, as well as dedicated interactive discussions, the course will explore the fundamental principles of ethics, empathy, integrity, professionalism, confidentiality and teamwork, all of which are essential for nurses whose role revolves around interaction with patients and other medical professionals. It will also illustrate how nurses can create a cooperative and pleasant environment through their use of the following effective communicative skills:

  • Speaking clearly and confidently
  • Listening attentively
  • Maintaining positive body language
  • Eliciting the patient's understanding
  • Offering empathy
  • Reassuring the patient

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