Lisa Kennedy Sheldon

Lisa Kennedy Sheldon PhD APN, is the author of "Communication for Nurses: Talking with Patients," "Oxygenation," "A Nurse's Guide to Caring for Cancer Survivors: Colorectal Cancer," and the editor of "Cancer Survivorship Series." An Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston), Dr. Sheldon wants to improve healthcare by understanding how communication by healthcare providers affects the outlook and adjustment of patients, and use this knowledge in teaching and changing clinical practice.

What constitutes good communication in healthcare?

How does communication change the lives of patients?

Can we teach these skills to nurses and other healthcare providers?

Spurred by her work as a teacher, researcher and an oncology nurse practitioner, Dr. Sheldon has witnessed the power of words to change the lives of people with cancer. Now, moving beyond compassion as a goal, she seeks to identify communication skills that are both effective and compassionate. Beginning with the introductory text, "Communication Skills for Nurses: Talking with Patients" and extending into specialized skills for working with cancer survivors in the "Cancer Survivorship Series," Dr. Sheldon wants to explore what actions and words constitute good communication and teach those skills to nurses and other healthcare providers to help people adapt to changes in health.

Compassion is empathy in action.

Your can contact Dr. Sheldon at lisa.kennedysheldon@umb.edu or visit the website for more information on her work and publications: http://works.bepress.com/lisa_kennedysheldon/