Effective communication in the healthcare settings: Are the graduates ready for it?

Abstract

Social competences, and particularly good communication skills, are becoming increasingly important in contemporary professional environment. Although studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of different training strategies, many Lithuanian higher education institutions have not yet incorporated the training of communication skills in their curriculum. The aim of this paper is to assess the communication skills of healthcare students in Lithuania and indicate the benefits of their development. Students graduating from a variety of health sciences study programs (N=118) self-assessed their communication skills. The results show that participants their communication skills as average with some potential strengths, i.e. ability to talk about things of interest to every person in conversation, recognizing how others are reacting to what is being said, not interrupting others in the conversation, understanding other people’s feelings, ability to praise the person, etc. On the other hand, some skills and abilities need to be improved, i.e. expressing opinion in a non-aggressive manner, as well as thinking and speaking clearly, while being emotional.

Keywords

• communication skills
• healthcare
• communication skills self-assessment
• higher education
• Lithuania