Importance Of Communication Skills Research Articles

Methodological adaptations for investigating the perceptions of language‐impaired adolescents regarding the relative importance of selected communication skills

This article describes the systematic and detailed processes undertaken to modify a research methodology for use with language‐impaired adolescents. The original methodology had been used previously with normally achieving adolescents and speech pathologists to obtain their opinions about the relative importance of selected communication skills for adolescents' positive peer relationships. Modifications attempted to address language‐impaired adolescents' characteristic metalinguistic, literacy, cognitive, and information processing weaknesses. Revising the original wording of the communication skills, reducing the reading level of the skills from grade 10 to 4.6, using a Q‐sort approach to ranking the importance of the skills, and revising the instructions and administration procedures led to what pilot testing results indicated was a valid methodology for use with language‐impaired adolescents. Results of a preliminary study using the revised methodology suggested that language‐impaired adolescents may perceive the relative importance of some communication skills differently from their normally achieving peers.

IDENTIFYING COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION LEVELS IN SENIOR-LEVEL INFORMATION SYSTEMS MAJORS: A PILOT STUDY

Given the importance of communication skills in the classroom and workplace, it is surprising that no extant research focuses explicitly on senior-level information systems (IS) majors and their levels of communication apprehension (CA). To fill that void, this study examines the levels of CA among seniorlevel IS majors. Participants (n = 51) enrolled in an IS senior capstone course completed the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) measure. IS majors’ PRCA scores were then compared to national norms. Unexpectedly, no statistically significant differences were observed between the scores of the IS majors and the national norms; however, IS majors do experience moderately high levels of CA and the most anxiety-inducing setting was speaking in public, whereas the least anxiety-inducing setting was speaking one-on-one.

Study of the Status of Physicians-Patient Communication among Medical Interns

Background and purpose: Proper communication between a physician and a patient is the key to diagnosis and management of diseases. Communication skills are essential for gathering information from patients, enhancing patients trust on physicians, relaxing them and managing them . The main purpose of this study was to determine the states of communication skills of medical interns to communicate with patients. Method: In this cross sectional study, communication skills of 72 medical interns of Kerman Medical University was assessed based on a checklist completed with direct observation and a questionnaire completed through interview with patients. The checklist included two parts: the first part for individual characteristics and the second part for 24 specifications related to initiation of an interview, conducting an interview and completion of an interview. Another questionnaire with a similar structure was developed to gather patients’ comments about communication of medical interns with them. Results: Communication skills of medical interns were weak in 29.3%, moderate in 85.4% and good in 15.9% of interns. An agreement between observed communication skills and patients’ survey results about greeting, asking patients’ names and calling them by their names, acceptable physicians’ appearance, listening to patients’ words, friendly doctor- patient encounter, empathizing with patients (0.37, 0.26, 0.22.0.41and 0.44 respectively) was seen. Results of individual variables show that relationship between age of patient and his or her opinion about communication was significant. Based on patient’s survey, the communication score given to the student increases with age of the patient. Conclusion: The study shows deficits in doctor-patient communication of medical interns in history taking. Given the importance of communication skills, the necessity to teach them in clinical skill centers before real contact with patients is obvious. Keywords: COMMUNICATION SKILLS , MEDICAL INTERNS , PHYSICIAN , PATIEN Journal of Medical Education winter 2006; 8(2); 89-96

Integrating Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies: a novel approach undertaken in the preoperative assessment clinic

surveys of recent graduates from our program have identified a need for an introduction to the skills necessary to accomplish excellent patient care with efficiency in this setting. Introduced in July 2004, senior residents, under close supervision by the attending anesthesiologist, are performing a supervisory role—the junior attending—in the management of a 4-room outpatient/short-stay surgical unit. During this 1-month rotation, they gain valuable experience with regard to all aspects of perioperative management and case coordination. The curriculum is novel and under development. Methods: The senior resident received an orientation with literature pertaining to the supervision of nurse anesthetists, including American Society of Anesthesiologists position statements [1] and financial [2] practice information. Clinical activities included evaluation of each patient and discussion of the plan with attending staff and the nurse anesthetist. They supervised all perioperative management. In consultation with the nurse managers, they coordinated cases and personnel to improve the efficiency of the unit. At the conclusion of the day, the faculty member and resident reviewed the events of the day, and feedback was obtained. The residents were evaluated for medical knowledge and patient care. They were also evaluated for the efficient organization and implementation of anesthetic management at multiple sites and communication skills with nursing and surgical teams. A 360-degree evaluation is in preparation, including patient satisfaction. The residents evaluated the rotation. Results: Six residents have participated in the rotation. Residents report high satisfaction in developing autonomy and developing important communication skills that facilitate working within the banesthesia teamQ model. Their satisfaction is proportional to their autonomy. In addition, residents stated that this rotation has greatly enhanced their ability to multitask and manage personnel. Discussion: Improving the resident’s understanding of varied types of anesthesia practice is a goal of resident training. In the rotation under development, we have exposed the senior resident to the responsibility of certified registered nurse anesthetist supervision in the multiple location setting. It is expected that this experience will improve the resident’s understanding of the system-based practice and communication skills essential to this setting. It will help in career decisions and prepare them for efficient and safe operating room management.

Communication between anesthesiologists, patients and the anesthesia team: a descriptive study of induction and emergence

Although the importance of communication skills in anesthetic practice is increasingly recognized, formal communication skills training has hitherto dealt only with limited aspects of this professional activity. We aimed to document and analyze the informally-learned communication that takes place between anesthesia personnel and patients at induction of and emergence from general anesthesia.We adopted an ethnographic approach based principally on observation of anesthesia personnel at work in the operating theatres with subsequent analysis of observation transcripts.We noted three main styles of communication on induction, commonly combined in a single induction. In order of frequency, these were: (1) descriptive, where the anesthesiologists explained to the patient what he/she might expect to feel; (2) functional, which seemed designed to help anesthesiologists maintain physiological stability or assess the changing depth of anesthesia and (3) evocative, which referred to images or metaphors. Although the talk we have described is nominally directed at the patient, it also signifies to other members of the anesthetic team how induction is progressing. The team may also contribute to the communication behaviour depending on the context. Communication on emergence usually focused on establishing that the patient was awake.Communication at induction and emergence tends to fall into specific patterns with different emphases but similar functions. This communication work is shared across the anesthetic team. Further work could usefully explore the relationship between communication styles and team performance or indicators of patient safety or well-being.

Which basic communication skills in medicine are learnt spontaneously and which need to be taught and trained?

Students in the last semester of medical school and experienced junior doctors with no or little training in communication skills were observed while interviewing or informing simulated patients. There was a remarkable similarity in behaviour between the two categories. Communication skills characteristic of common social conversation were learnt spontaneously, while important professional basic communication skills were not learnt despite 10 or more years of clinical work. These discrepancies and subsequent gaps should be the focus of future training courses at both pre- and postgraduate level.

Approaching Difficult Communication Tasks in Oncology

Effective communication skills enable physicians to improve patients' understanding of their illnesses, improve patient adherence to treatment regimens, use time efficiently, avoid burnout, and increase professional fulfillment. Common communication pitfalls include blocking, lecturing, depending on a routine, collusion, and premature reassurance. Fundamental communication skills include "ask-tell-ask," "tell me more," and responding empathetically. Key communication tasks that are linked to the illness trajectory include: the first visit, giving bad news, making anticancer treatment decisions, offering clinical trials, completing anticancer therapy, and discontinuing palliative chemotherapy. While enhancing or acquiring new skills ultimately requires practice and feedback over time, this article provides a cognitive map for important communication skills that physicians need over the course of caring for a person with cancer.

Comments (March 2005)

SPE’s membership reached its highest total ever last year and is almost 20% higher than it was just a decade ago. There are clear trends in the growth. The percentage of non-U.S. members is increasing at a rapid pace, and the number of student members has more than doubled in the past few years. The membership growth partly reflects some changes going on at SPE. The Society has become a truly international organization for oil and gas industry professionals. SPE had 64,383 members at the end of last year, 54% of them living outside the U.S. The membership total has been on a steady incline since 2000. That has led to the creation of new sections and student chapters around the world. SPE now has more than 150 sections and more than 100 student chapters located around the globe. For a more detailed look at some of these demographics, go to SPE’s website at www.spe.org under “About SPE,” then “Membership.” Another trend reflected in SPE’s membership, and in the oil and gas industry as a whole, is the gradual graying of employees in the sector. SPE actually showed a slight increase in the number younger members last year, but the average age is still over 45. The aging of the industry is not a new topic; the “big crew change” has become a cliché. SPE is making a big effort to get young professionals enthusiastic and involved in the Society and in the industry. 2005 SPE President Giovanni Paccaloni described some of the programs and services SPE is offering to that end in his column in last month’s issue. Many of you soon will receive, or already have received, SPE’s new magazine targeted to young professionals, The Way Ahead. A 15-member editorial committee, made up of young professionals in the E&P industry, is overseeing the new publication, which will be published three times a year. SPE’s Board of Directors approved the creation of the publication last year, and the committee began working on the first issue soon after that. Many of the articles are written by young professionals in the industry themselves to ensure that their point of view is well represented. The first issue includes an analysis of the industry’s demographic trends, a discussion of the job market, a first-person account of one engineer’s first years in the industry, a how-to on writing technical papers, articles on the importance of communication skills and the future of the petrophysicist, a roundup of SPE young professionals’ activities and events around the world, and coverage of the recent Leadership Conference that featured young leaders in the industry discussing current topics. SPE members under the age of 35 will receive the publication free as part of their membership benefits. The magazine also will be mailed to selected executives around the world. The new magazine is just one of the important changes taking place at SPE. Last month, numerous improvements to the eLibrary—the storehouse of SPE technical literature—were unveiled that give members easier access to E&P technology. Improved online search-ing with better search results and preview pages with citation data and related document identification are some of the changes. More information about these and other SPE changes and improvements will be included in future issues of JPT.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR PATIENT-CENTERED CARE

Better physician-patient communication is linked to increased patient satisfaction and patient adherence to medication and treatment regimens as well as to improved clinical outcomes1-4. Practicing orthopaedic surgeons have received limited formal education in the communication skills necessary for patient-centered care; yet, we perform over 100,000 medical interviews during our careers5. Patient-centered care involves treating patients as partners, involving them in decision-making, and enlisting their sense of responsibility for their care while respecting their individual values and concerns6,7. We have tended to focus mainly on the technical aspects of our care-giving8. We do not seem to be very good communicators9,10. In 1998, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) conducted an extensive national survey to which 807 patients and 700 orthopaedic surgeons responded11. The patients and surgeons were asked to rate orthopaedic surgeons with use of the same categories. Patients rated technical skills as important (“hightech”) but valued communication skills equally (“high-touch”)12 (Table I). According to this survey, 75% of the orthopaedic surgeons believed that they communicated satisfactorily with their patients, but only 21% of the orthopaedic patients reported satisfactory communication with their physicians. This gap was most evident in categories such as listening and caring and time spent with the patient9. Our most common deficiency in our daily interviews with patients remains a failure to demonstrate an empathic response13. View this table: TABLE I Discrepancies Between AAOS Members' Self-Assessment and Patients' Perceptions of Orthopaedic Care12 We can all learn to communicate better. During the past twenty years, effective tools for teaching and assessing physician communication skills have been developed. Communication skills are being taught in medical schools and residency programs2,8,14-16. Beginning with the …

Teaching Communication Skills: An AACE Survey of Oncology Training Programs

The extent of communication skills training (CST) in American oncology fellowship programs is unknown. A survey was sent to program directors of medical oncology, radiation oncology, gynecologic oncology, and surgical oncology training programs regarding (1) the presence and method(s) of CST in their programs, (2) their attitude about mandatory CST, and (3) their attitude about a mandatory assessment of communication skills competence as a prerequisite for specialty certification. Only a third of programs contained some form of CST. Surgical oncology programs were particularly lacking. Lack of faculty time was cited as the major barrier to implementing CST. A majority of program directors support mandatory CST but not a core competence requirement for certification. There is a current deficiency in CST in American oncology fellowship training. Given the importance of communication skills in the provision of high-quality cancer care, initiatives to address this deficiency are a priority.

Advancing the IS Curricula: The Identification of Important Communication Skills Needed by IS Staff during Systems Development

An international association advancing the multidisciplinary study of informing systems. Founded in 1998, the Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a global community of academics shaping the future of informing science.

Why computer science students need language

Many students enter the field of computer science with misconceptions about the importance of communication skills. They often choose this field, thinking they will end up with jobs working alone or with other "techies" developing computer games, and not having to deal with people. These students often do not realize the significance of reading, writing, and speaking skills in computer science. This paper discusses several relevant areas of computer science, and explains why computer science students need skills covered in English, speech, technical writing, and even foreign language courses in order to achieve success as a computing professional.

The Importance of Communication Skills in Negotiation: An Empirical Study

In an increasingly competitive, dynamic and ambiguous business environment, negotiation is critically important to the success and, ultimately, to the survival of companies. Consequently, managers need to possess and constantly improve their negotiating capabilities. Among the most important traits needed to negotiate successfully are several communication skills. The main objective of our study is to identify and analyze the importance that managers and executives of the 500 largest Portuguese companies attribute to some communication characteristics, necessaries to negotiate effectively and efficiently in uncertain and complex business environments. The 231 answers received demonstrate that the studied communication skills are regarded as requirements of the highest importance in a superior negotiator. However, we find some discrepancies when we cross-analyze the results with demographic characteristics of those surveyed. For example, the most experienced executives and those who have formal negotiation training recognize a greater importance to the ability to listen, while women give a greater emphasis to non-verbal communication (body language, posture, etc.). In addition, the negotiating styles (collaborative vs. competitive) and the ethical behavior in negotiation of those surveyed seem to cause significantly statistical differences concerning the importance they attribute to some of the referred communication traits.

Skills and Knowledge for Contemporary Probation Practice

This article discusses research conducted in Canada and the UK, which considered probation officers’ views about the skills and background knowledge they felt necessary to undertake probation practice. Despite changing and very different political and structural contexts, the research finds clear agreement between the two samples on core skills rated as being most important, particularly interviewing and interpersonal communication skills.

Skills and Knowledge for Contemporary Probation Practice

This article discusses research conducted in Canada and the UK, which considered probation officers’ views about the skills and background knowledge they felt necessary to undertake probation practice. Despite changing and very different political and structural contexts, the research finds clear agreement between the two samples on core skills rated as being most important, particularly interviewing and interpersonal communication skills.

Geocommunication, A Cornerstone Graduate Course in Professional Development

We instituted the new course “Geocommunication” as one of four required courses in our recently revised geology M.S. curriculum. The course was specifically designed to address our students' needs, especially in the areas of organizing and writing scientific journal articles, thesis proposals, and research proposals. Our underlying goals were to impress students with the importance of communication skills in the geosciences and to help get their professional careers off to a good start.The course was centered on two major projects: a manuscript for a professional journal and a research proposal. Using data from a short field exercise, students wrote their journal manuscripts one section at a time (Materials and Methods through Conclusion, then Introduction and ). The research proposal was patterned after a thesis proposal or a proposal for external funds; both versions involved fellow students as “external reviewers.” The course ended with oral presentations of these proposals.Students completing the course indicated that it had been successful in improving their communication skills and that the course should be retained in the curriculum. Most of their suggestions for improvement dealt with the topics covered and the relative amount of time devoted to each. When asked to provide a subjective assessment of student improvement attributable to the course, other departmental faculty reported improved writing performance and presentation skills for the majority (but not all) of students who had enrolled.

Commentary: The promise of problem‐based learning

Physicist Leo Szilard once said “An optimist is someone who believes the future is uncertain.” With the possibility for change, there is hope and motivation. The fact that change can be for better or worse provides the incentive to work for the better. For an optimist, belief implies commitment to some set of principles and a vision of a better future. Teachers are optimists. What teacher does not know the profound frustration of poor student performance? How could this happen when the lectures and text were so clear (to us)? For students, such experiences can cultivate pessimism with low expectations and apathy. Teachers of science frequently explain poor student performance in the following ways: they have an inadequate background, are not very bright, do not know how to study, or party too much. While all of these explanations may apply to some groups or individuals, do they absolve teachers of a share in the responsibility for poor performance? Should optimists cultivate pessimists? Most readers of this commentary would profess an inability to draw well. Few of us practice this skill beyond grade school. Imagine yourself in a drawing class with a teacher whose goal was to teach you and everyone else in the class to draw well. How much would your conviction that you cannot draw well inhibit the expression of your innate drawing ability? In Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain [1], Betty Edwards claims to teach 95% of her students to draw well. Her book was on the New York Times best seller list for more than a year and sold over 2.5 million copies. Through the use of unusual exercises, she enabled students to see things differently and was able to get them to draw well. Betty Edwards' book is about learning and is one of the most optimistic books I have ever read. It fueled my hope that that maybe there was a better way to teach biochemistry so that more students would understand and appreciate the subject. It laid the groundwork for considering alternative means to a better end. Problem-based learning (PBL)11 The abbreviation used is: PBL, problem-based learning. provides an alternative to traditional lecture-based education. It claims to mimic the way we learn naturally when we confront problems. In principle, PBL reverses traditional education by putting the problem first and using it to motivate learning. By using real-world problems, PBL enables students to see the relevance they often miss in other contexts. The promise of PBL was that students would learn better, understand what they learned, and remember longer by working cooperatively on interesting, challenging problems. Furthermore, PBL promised that students would be actively involved, enjoy the process, and gain important communication skills while becoming life-long learners. What optimism! Like a frictionless wheel, the ideal of PBL is fiction. However, it provides a useful template and vision. When working well, PBL does transform students in the ways intended and enables students to achieve beyond their expectations. Similarly, PBL can be implemented poorly and fail. There is risk in trying new things. When PBL is imposed administratively or implemented without adequate faculty preparation or commitment, things can go wrong [2]. Even under ideal situations, adopting PBL usually means teaching in unfamiliar ways, negotiating issues beyond course content, and dealing with skeptical colleagues. However, the promise of optimists cultivating optimists is a powerful source of motivation. Meta-analyses evaluating 20 years of publications on PBL in medical schools [3, 4] showed that students perform as well and sometimes better on clinical examinations and faculty evaluations but less well on certain board examinations. While one might hope for a clear difference in medical knowledge, significant positive effects of PBL may lie elsewhere in better critical thinking skills, increased curiosity, the ability to locate relevant information efficiently, and improved communication skills. Assessment has been a challenge because PBL includes more than content objectives. Ultimately our goal is to have our students become responsible, contributing members of society. Because PBL deals with process issues beyond content, one would hope PBL-trained students would benefit in tangible ways toward this goal. Will we discover 50 years from now that PBL-trained physicians were sued less often or that a disproportionate number of PBL-trained students became educators? The future is uncertain, but the promise is there.

Standardized patient training: a modality for teaching interviewing skills.

Standardized patient training involves an experiential approach to clinical training, using laypeople acting as patients to provide skills-building opportunities for health care providers. Standardized patient training was used for 2 years in combination with a computer-based continuing education program or traditional inservice program to teach two important communication skills: human immunodeficiency virus-related risk assessment and posttest counseling. Assessments by more than 500 participants in a rural setting were overwhelmingly positive, with increased willingness and ability to perform the risk assessment and counseling in clinical practice. Standardized patient training is viewed very positively by participants. Longitudinal observations of clinical behaviors would be necessary to confirm behavior changes.

Engineering Leadership on Capitol Hill

The way in which public policy affects the volume and type of work done by engineers is summarized, with attention then given to the dearth of engineering expertise among members of Congress. The work done by legislative staff members is briefly described, and the telling effect that engineers could have at this level is emphasized. The similarities between the work done by an engineer on a legislative staff and the work of an engineer in private practice are highlighted. Finally, the importance of communication skills in influencing public policy is stressed.

Integrating Public Speaking into the Advertising Curriculum

Recently, my advertising copy students said they were put off by the number of times a guest speaker said "OK," "um," and "uh." Another group of advertising students had as much to say about presentation skills as they did strategy and creative after observing district competition of the American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition. I credit these students for tuning in to the not-so-mysterious featuresofagreatpresentation.Theyhavelearned to value that spark of electricity that passes between speaker and audience in a well-prepared, well-rehearsed, and well-executed presentation.When CEO Scott McNeally banned Microsoft PowerPoint at Sun Microsystems a few years back, it wasn't just because of a rivalry with Bill Gates (Nunberg, 1999). Relying solely on technology bells and whistles to carry a presentation can be a career stopper. "Try to imagine the 'I have a dream' speech in PowerPoint," says Cliff Nass, Stanford communication professor (Nunberg,1999). Body language, eye contact, voice, visual aid management, and content, among other things, separate "pros" from "amateurs," my students reported after the AAF competition.From presenting their portfolios in job interviews to pitching new accounts, advertising students will need strong presentation skills. Every "big idea" eventually has to be presented. But public speaking may not be emphasized in the advertising curriculum. In my experience, advertising students who have elected to take a public speaking course-significant numbers in my classes-still have to be taught the connection between making speeches for a grade and the "real world" of advertising.In this essay I argue the need for a public speaking component in the advertising curriculum and share a relatively painless method for teaching presentation skills in almost any advertising course. Below I discuss:1. the role of presentation skills in advertising,2. the merits of speaking-across-the-curriculum approaches to the classroom3. a process for adapting advertising assignments to include presentation opportunities.Oral Presentation Skills and the Advertising CurriculumAdvertising professionals say they want more "real world" training in advertising education (Kendrick, Slayden, & Broyles, 1996; Robbs & Wells, 1999). Yet, with our emphasis on writing skills in mass communications education, advertising educators and professionals may be overlooking equally important oral communication skills. As Doris Drucker (2000) observes, because we learn to speak long before we go to school, we tend to assume "that we speak perfectly" (p. 71).Advertising trade publications have visited the topic of presentations from time to time, although rarely regarding oral communication skills and never in reference to formal education. Instead the trades have focused on dos and don'ts for new business pitches, from briefing to follow-up (Brichta, 1993; Claggett, 1987; Cullen, 1994; Farrell, 1993; Hoff, 1978; Weinberger, 1992). Townsend (1984) reminded AdvertisingAgereadersthatadvertisingisabout presentations, "and like it or not, a presentation is a performance" (p. 48). Executive trainer Steve Hess reported to Adweek's Marketing Week that training for on-camera media relations "goes beyond the media interview and translates into improved sales presentations" (Winkleman, 1989, p. 65). With technology and professional talent so readily at our disposal, Drucker (2000) believes we have little incentive to "cultivate the art of speaking" (p. 71). But the anecdotes in Moriarty and Duncan's 1989 (revised 1996) Creating and Delivering Winning Advertising and Marketing Presentations demonstrate that "good speakers and presenters become important, even powerful, because of that skill" (p. 3).When educators have asked about the relative importance of presentation skills in advertising, the professionals were more forthcoming. However, through a quirk of the literature, we have tended to ask the question more often of creatives and, even then, only as ancillary to the primary research question(s). …