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Contacts

Contact:

Cynthia Curtis

Head of Nurse Education & Events

Organisation:

British Heart Foundation

14 Fitzhardinge Street London W1H 6DH United Kingdom

Tel:

0207 9350185

Fax:

0207 4861273

Email:

Website:

http://www.bhf.org.uk

Contact:

Dr Susie Wilkinson

Senior Lecturer Palliative CareNational Leader, Advanced Communication Skills Training Programme for Senior Health Care Professionals in Cancer Care

Organisation:

Royal Free & UCL Medical SchoolDept of Mental Health Sciences

Rowland Hill St London NW3 2PF United Kingdom

Tel:

01728 688 419

Fax:

01728 688 419

Email:

Case study:

17 October 2007

Advanced communication skills pilot training course


Key points

  • The BHF is running a series of courses on communication skills for senior health professionals working with heart disease patients
  • Post-course evaluation shows participants’ confidence and communication skills improved significantly.

The British Heart Foundation is running a series of courses to improve the communication skills of senior healthcare professionals working with heart disease patients.

The three-day courses, which include role-play, are variants of the health department’s advanced communication skills training programme for senior healthcare professionals in cancer care.

Detailed evaluation of the first pilot course, involving 10 BHF nurses, showed that participants’ confidence and communication skills improved significantly.

The nurses also gave the course top ratings in terms of interest, usefulness, information and enjoyment.

The courses have proved to be extremely popular with six taking place in 2007 and a further six planned for 2008. Nurses are already booking for the 2008 courses.

Some nurses have also undertaken the training for the trainers course and are now co-facilitators.

The BHF has also commissioned the filming of a DVD on communication skills related to heart disease because most current DVDs are cancer-orientated. This is now almost complete.


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