Effective Communication In The Healthcare Settings: Are The Graduates Ready For It?

Abstract

Social competences, and particularlygood communication skills, are becomingincreasingly important in contemporary professionalenvironment. Although studies have demonstratedthe effectiveness of different trainingstrategies, many Lithuanian higher education institutionshave not yet incorporated the trainingof communication skills in their curriculum. Theaim of this paper is to assess the communicationskills of healthcare students in Lithuania and indicatethe benefits of their development. Studentsgraduating from a variety of health sciences studyprograms (N=118) self-assessed their communicationskills. The results show that participantstheir communication skills as average with somepotential strengths, i.e. ability to talk about thingsof interest to every person in conversation, recognizinghow others are reacting to what is beingsaid, not interrupting others in the conversation,understanding other people’s feelings, ability topraise the person, etc. On the other hand, someskills and abilities need to be improved, i.e. expressingopinion in a non-aggressive manner, aswell as thinking and speaking clearly, while beingemotional.