Burnard Philip

Good communication is an essential part of delivering effective nursing care. Nursing students work in a variety of multicultural settings and therefore it is imperative that they fully understand their own cultural context and that of others. This text illustrates the important differences between cultures and how these differences can enhance practical nursing. Through the comprehensive use of case studies and interactive exercises, the book invites students to reflect on their own knowledge and skills about culture so that they can learn to communicate in a more effective and culturally sensitive way. All theory is applied to nursing practice to demonstrate how situations can arise and be dealt with appropriately whilst working on clinical placement. This text is written for students studying the CFP at Year 1. Communication will be studied either as part of a Professional Issues module, or Nursing Practice.

This Manual is a companion to the second edition of the same authors' textbook for students Caring and Communicating: The Interpersonal Relationship in Nursing. It can also be used independently of that book.

The development of interpersonal skills in all health professions is of increasing interest to a wide range of teachers, students, practioners and managers. This expanded and revised edition, includes further information on reflection and counselling, and provides many activities and exercises to help the reader to devise learning strategies in the interpersonal domain. The author draws on a range of literature and research to provide a guide to teaching and learning interpersonal skills. This guide offers both the theory and practice of how to draw on people's life experience in order to enhance their interpersonal skills. Chapters are included on educational theory, managing learning groups and curriculum design. Short sections called "activities for improving interpersonal skills" provide brief exercises and tips that can further develop skills. Teachers, students, practioners and managers in all health professions should find this book useful in acquiring interpersonal skills.

Most health professionals have to use computers - at least some of the time. Frequently, those computers are personal computers -the generic name for the ones that are variously known as 'IBM compatible' or 'IBM clones' or just PCs. This separates them out from certain other makes such as the Apple Macintosh, the Amstrad dedicated word­ processor, the Atari, Amiga and a number of others. This book is about PCs. When you need information about your computer when you are busy, you don't want to have to wade through piles of manuals to find what you need. You often need a fairly straightforward piece of information - now. Computers can be infuriating. When they are up and running properly, they can save time and help you to be more productive. When something goes wrong, they can be extremely frustrating. Once you have called in someone else to fix your problem, it is often apparent that the answer to your problem was only a few keystrokes away. This book aims at supplying you with small chunks of information that can aid your productivity, get you out of awkward corners and help you to become more at home with your Pc. It has been my experience - as a health care lecturer and as a regular com­ puter user - that you need to develop a certain baseline of confidence in working with them.

This is the second edition of a book that I hope continues to be of practical value. For counselling must always be that: practical. No amount of talking, on its own, can really make a difference if people do not end up doing something as a result of counselling. The practical thread remains an important one throughout this edition. Counselling Skills for Health Professionals is not just a 'how to do it' book: people are probably too complicated for that approach to be of much use. Counselling is never simply a matter of learning a range of skills which you then apply in a range of settings. In the end, counselling is about facing the person in front of you, listening to them carefully and then supporting them as they work through their problems. For many problems, there are no easy answers and counselling doesn't offer any 'quick fixes'. It is essentially a supportive process. There are many things it cannot do. It cannot change certain social and political situations. It cannot cure diseases. On the other hand, what it can do is offer people more hope. Often, just the fact that there is somone who is prepared to hear your story and to listen to you is all that is needed. I remain convinced that the key issue in all types of counselling is the ability to listen.

This book is about practical ways of enhancing communication between health professionals and their patients or clients and between those professionals and their colleagues. The text covers all aspects of verbal and non-verbal communication. Divided into four parts, communication skills are identified as educational, therapeutic, organizational and personal. Within these areas teaching, presentation, computing, listening and counselling skills are discussed. There are also chapters on running groups, general management skills, self presentation, improving writing skills, assertiveness and self awareness. The final section includes a skills checklist and questionnaire. This volume should be of value to nurses, doctors, occupational therapists, speech therapists, physiotherapists, and social and voluntary workers, both qualified and in training, who want to improve their existing communication skills.

Stress is a feature of all of our lives. The business of working in the health professions means that we are constantly being exposed to stress. That stress can sometimes be enriching and motivating. It has often been pointed out that stress can be positive or nega­ tive. When stress is positive, it rarely needs any further attention. When it is negative, it is a problem. The first aim of this book is to discuss the various sorts of stress that may be experienced by a variety of health professionals, including social workers, nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, occu­ pational therapists and others. What they all have in common is that they work closely with other people - people who often have emotional problems or problems in living. Working with other people who are troubled in this way is indeed stressful. For too long it has been assumed that health professionals should 'get on with it' and put up with any stress that is involved in caring for others. The second aim of this book is to offer practical ways of coping with negative stress. These methods range from simple relaxation techniques, through meditation to methods that involve discussing stress with others: counselling, co-counselling and group work. All the methods described in this book have been used with a variety of health professionals, and not all of these methods will necessarily appeal to you. One of the fundamental points about stress is that it tends to affect each individual idiosyncratically.

Part of a series this book is aimed at therapists who are concerned with rehabilitation in a very broad sense. The author argues that most people, given a little time have the personal experience to enable them to help others to improve their interpersonal skills. It is aimed at anyone in the health professions who is concerned about enhancing their own or others interpersonal competence. It offers both theory and guidance in practice and contains many practical illustrations of how-to-do-it as well as a longer illustrative package that tries to convey the running of a typical interpersonal skills workshop. Whilst the book is primarily written for tutors, trainers and lecturers in the health professions, it may also be useful to the clinical practitioner who wishes to develop expertise in helping patients and clients to enhance their interpersonal skills. In the fields of social work, health visiting and psychiatric nursing, there are numerous occasions in which the development of conversational and social skills can help improve personal performance and self-awareness. The awareness of basic counselling and group skills can also do much to improve the quality of communication between people in families and organizations.