Communication Essentials for Nursing
Presented by Joy Goldsmith and Elaine Wittenberg
This short, comprehensive, six-chapter course equips nurses across all specialties with the essential communication tools needed to elevate interactions with patients, families, and healthcare team members. Designed to bridge critical practice gaps, this course moves beyond the basics to address the root communication failures that frequently lead to nurse burnout, absenteeism, and moral distress.
By integrating patient-centered nursing competencies with communication science, participants will explore six core areas of essential clinical interaction:
- Patient Relationships: Building trust and partnership at the bedside
- Differences and Dilemmas: Navigating cultural, systemic, and clinical complexities
- Technology and Interaction: Balancing digital tools with human connection
- Difficult Conversations: Managing high-stakes, emotionally charged situations
- Culture and Health Literacy: Expanding interpersonal effectiveness amid differences
- Emotional Intelligence: Cultivating self-awareness and situational empathy
This course has been developed in response to sub-competencies identified by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in Domain 2 of the Essentials and to meet communication competence assessment criteria.
Learning Outcomes
- Describe how relationship-centered care can strengthen your work as a nurse and summarize three practices of relationship-centered care
- Summarize Differences and Dilemma and explain the Code of Ethics in Communication
- Summarize the adaptive demands of communication across changing technologies, and define the TECH communication strategy for responsive patient care in digital communication channels
- Define difficult conversations, and summarize two communication practices to support difficult conversations with patients and families
- Describe the connection between communication, health literacy, and cultural knowledge
Meet your instructors
Joy Goldsmith
Joy Goldsmith, PhD, conducts research about health communication science in the context of healthcare provider training and serious and chronic illness. CommunicateComfort.com, a longtime initiative of Dr. Goldsmith, offers a range of research interventions and education/training curricula for healthcare providers. Storyboard…
Elaine Wittenberg
Elaine Wittenberg holds a PhD in communication from the University of Oklahoma and has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles on hospice and palliative care communication. She is coauthor of seven books pertaining to palliative care, family communication, and nursing, three of which have been awarded Book of the Year…
Chapters & learning objectives
1. Relationship-Centered Care
Relationship-centered care is a communication approach that focuses on the other’s perspective, responding to that perspective, and maintaining a supportive atmosphere.
2. Differences and Dilemas
This chapter focuses on differences in ideas and goals among patients and nurses. Utilizing a code of ethics for communication can lessen the emotional demands of the nursing profession while empowering nurses to competently engage in patient needs.
3. Digital Communications
This chapter includes the adaptation to new technology while keeping patient communication at the center of those demands.
4. Difficult Conversations
Sensitive or difficult conversations with patients and families are common occurrences in nursing practice. This chapter will help you understand what might create challenges around communication, and how you can lean into your communication competence as a nurse by sharing medical information and expressing goodwill and presence.
5. Health Literacy and Culture
This chapter focusses on the connection between health literacy and communication, while also considering the role culture plays in engaging patients about health information and management.
6. Becoming Communication Aware
Your ability to read the room and interact in a manner that is responsive to others enhances your clinical practice and decision-making. Communication facilitates your emotional life as a nurse. Staying self-aware, recognizing social rules, and using self-regulation can reduce burnout and help you manage stress better.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about Medbridge courses.
Who creates Medbridge courses?
We work with industry-leaders, top researchers, and consultants to build content roadmaps that are then structured into courses, filmed, and edited by our production team before being launched to our site.
How often does Medbridge release new courses?
New courses are added monthly and are automatically included in your subscription as they launch.
How often does Medbridge update courses?
Medbridge reviews its courses annually for relevance and to assess if content is up to date. Based on these reviews it may be determined that a course is out of date resulting in the course being re-filmed or retired, if the content is no longer needed (e.g. a replacement course already exists, the concepts are no longer best practice, etc.).
How many courses does Medbridge offer?
We have over 3,000 accredited courses and we are continually updating our library with new courses. Check our course library for the most up-to-date count for your discipline.
Are there any additional fees for taking a Medbridge course?
There are no additional fees for taking a Medbridge course, obtaining a course certificate of completion, earning CEUs as a subscriber, or accessing any of the additional tools your subscription may include.
Is there a limit to the number of courses I can take?
There is no limit to the number of courses you can take as a subscriber! As a subscriber to Medbridge, you have unlimited access to over 3,000+ accredited CE courses.
If you are a Premium subscriber, you also have unlimited access to our Patient Engagement Tools such as the Home Exercise Program, Patient Education Library, Orthopedic Exam Tests, and Manual Therapy Techniques. We have over 7,000 exercises and over 650+ videos and handouts of patient education resources with more exercises and patient education added to the library based on subscriber feedback, volume of request and specialities.
What is your refund policy?
You are eligible for a refund provided your request is received within 30 days of your subscription purchase and your account has no activity.