Essentials of Nursing Communication

Build your skills in communication with a scientific, competency-based approach! Essentials of Nursing Communication helps you gain communication knowledge and develop observable communication skills/behaviors in nursing. This text goes beyond an anecdotal, “soft skills” approach to communication. It integrates the COMFORT model with the concepts and domains of the 2021 AACN Essentials, covering key topics like professionalism, DEI, and person-centered care. Standards and learning objectives for undergraduate nurse communication training are scaffolded across chapters, implementing the gold-standard approach to competency-based learning to help you communicate effectively in today’s nursing practice.

• The four concepts in the 2021 AACN Essentials are integrated throughout the text, covering communication, clinical judgment, compassionate care, and diversity/equity/inclusion; the 10 domains are also included
• Essentials Spotlight graphics depict the junction of the Essentials domains with communication science and related skills
• The COMFORT model ― a model created, researched, and applied by the authors ― focuses on nurse communication in healthcare, with this acronym standing for: Connect, Options, Making meaning, Family caregivers, Openings, Relating, and Team
• Theory at Work directly applies theory to communication dynamics and challenges in actual nursing contexts
• Communicate with COMFORT integrates the COMFORT model into chapters across the text, linking communication science to the clinical communication practices of the nurse
• Communication Matters Across the Four Spheres of Care describes nursing communication in these four areas: Wellness and Disease Prevention, Chronic Disease Care, Regenerative/Restorative Care, and Hospice/Palliative Care
• Nurse Forward highlights the voices and stories of nurses advancing the field of nursing, elevating the role of the nurse as well as opportunities in leadership
• Self-care content includes reflections from nurses and nursing students
• Learning features reinforce chapter objectives with key terms, competencies, critical thinking engagements, boxed features/callouts, and charts/diagrams

Joy V. Goldsmith (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 2004) is a Professor of Health Communication at the University of Memphis. Her research engages nurse communication training, health literacy, and family caregiver communication. CommunicateComfort.com, a long-time initiative of Dr. Goldsmith, serves to house and disseminate a range of research interventions and curriculum for healthcare providers. COMFORT training has occurred through nationally funded training courses as well as in healthcare systems, in addition to provider training programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Goldsmith is the co-author of seven books, with the last four published with Oxford University Press. She is a thought leader in nurse communication training and has developed training content for the 2021 AACN Essentials. Along with Dr. Wittenberg (co-author), she has developed Goals of Care in Oncology training program delivered through the Comfort Communication Project to large cancer hospitals.

Elaine Wittenberg (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 2004) worked with Dr. Goldsmith on the AACN workgroup for the Essentials and has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles on palliative care communication. She is co-author of six books pertaining to palliative care, family communication, and nursing, three of which have been awarded Book of the Year by the National Communication Association. Her research and teaching awards include the 2017 Applied Research Award from the International Communication Association, 2020 Lynn Payer Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theory, Practice, and Teaching of Health Communication from the Academy of communication in Healthcare, and the 2020 Bernard J. Brommel Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Family Communication from the National Communication Association.

Chiahui (Kate) Chen, PhD, MS, RN, FNP-BC has six years of critical care nursing experience as a registered nurse and has been working as a nurse practitioner in medical and neurological intensive care unit (ICU) for the past ten years. She served as a frontline clinician caring for COVID-19 patients in the ICU and completed her doctoral dissertation on COMFORT training for ICU nurses. Dr. Chen has worked with Wittenberg, Goldsmith, and Prince-Paul for five years on funded projects related to the COMFORT model.

Maryjo Prince-Paul, PhD, MSN, RN, FPCN, is an experienced hospice and palliative care nurse. Throughout her 30-year career as a nurse and nurse educator, she has researched and promoted the importance of patient-centered communication and end-of-life care, serving as training faculty for End of-Life Nursing Education Consortium and COMFORT communication training programs. She regularly consults with law firms, non-profits, and agencies overseeing palliative care efforts, and currently serves on Ohio End of Life Options Health Care Coalition where she coordinates education initiatives for Ohio nurses. She regularly publishes articles and chapters addressing end-of-life
dynamics, ethics, and communication between nurse and patient.