What constitutes good communication skills?

[succinate]

As a nursing student, I often wonder what constitutes good communication skills. Of course, after I complete my BScN degree, I want to be a good nurse.

So how can you have excellent communication skills? Please feel free to share your tips.

[Davey Do]

Not being so vague would help. (Just kidding!)

Although your question, "What constitutes good communication skills?", does constitute a rather broad answer...

Lessee... Here's a few ideas:

Good communication starts with the ability to be a good listener; being able to hear what someone says and be able to give back to them, in your own words, what they have given to you. In essence- Verbal Listening.

The circle of communication is also important. Be a strong link in the chain of communication in order to be sure all involved parties are aware of a given status.

Adopt a set of principles and adhere to those principles. Having a personal, predetermined set of principles gives you a response for any situation.

Knowing which situations deserve a verbal response is also key to good communication skills. Sometimes saying nothing says a lot.

Knowing which situations to use animated gestures is important. For example, when discussing a fragile situation with an individual, a display of physical action is not warranted. Whereas, giving a talk in front of a group calls for physical action in order to increase audience interest.

When conveying information, before you leave, always ask if there are any questions.

That's it, for now.

Any questions?

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Being clear and to the point. Communication in your work life is different than your communication in your personal life. Always ask if there's any questions when you are done.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Clear, to the point and concise is good. But I wanted to mention something you might not immediately think of. When you're brand new, you're going to make mistakes. Take criticism well. Don't be the orientee that no one wants to work with because you take feedback poorly. Remember, your preceptor is giving you feedback to help you improve, to be the best nurse that you can be. She's not doing it to make you feel badly. Honest!

[liketheairport]

Concise and to the point. Also, having open ears and a closed mouth can be very helpful to developing good communication skills. Ask questions to clarify information.

All of those certainly helped during the journalism/mass communication degree.