The document emphasizes the importance of teaching soft skills such as professionalism, communication, and critical thinking in healthcare professions. It highlights how these skills contribute to staff productivity and patient satisfaction, aligning with accreditation standards. Additionally, it provides strategies for teaching these skills, including role-playing, recognizing cultural diversity, and promoting a meaningful work environment.

1. Teaching
Soft
Skills
in
Healthcare
Professions
by Lori Tyler
Lori Tyler & Associates
©Tyler & Associates, Inc., 2012

2. What
are
Soft
Skills?
• Professionalism
• Communication
• Critical thinking
• Conflict resolution
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

3. Why
Teach
Soft
Skills?
Research has found that the use of soft
skills make for a productive, happy staff and
satisfied patients.
Soft skills are a major focus of many
accreditation standards
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4. Employers
kn o w
People are the key
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

5. Teaching
Soft
Skills
to adults in healthcare professions
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

6. Three
needs
of
adults
in
the
workplace
O Meaningful work
O Appreciation for work
O Integrating fun at work
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7. What makes work in
healthcare meaningful?

8. Nine
times
out
of ten
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

9. the
answer
is
The people…
©Tyler & Associates, Inc., 2012

10. Why is
Professionalism
Important?
• Makes work a career
• People expect
professionalism
• Helps one feel good
about one’s work
Use what is meaningful
to me to teach me

11. Set
the
Expectation
O Show examples of how health care
professional are to dress (pictures, models,
etc.)
O Give ideas for covering unprofessional
piercings, tattoos, etc.
O Treat violations in private meetings and with
sensitivity
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

12. Practice
Communication
Skills
O Recognition of
patient’s level of
understanding
O Providing appropriate
feedback
O Sensitivity to patient
concerns and fears
O Respect of spatial
boundaries
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

13. O Start with giving
directions for when a
Teaching
Example
patient should wash
Use of verbal their hands (say it in
communication to enable another language or
patient understanding using words above
the education level of
the students).
Il est important de se laver
les mains après avoir O Ask students to use
mangé, utiliser la salle de their communication
bains, et de vous moucher. skills to help a
patient understand
what you just said.
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14. Tyler & Associates, Inc.

15. Provide
Opportunities
to
Experience
Diversity
• Illicit diverse staf f to teach
about their culture.
• Guest speakers or other
students can present how
to understand their
cultural beliefs
• Meals, celebrations of
culture, and practicing
cultural rituals can help
everyone feel included and
understood.
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

16. Teaching
Example
Discussion Role Play
O In small groups have
students discuss
differences in
personal space from
culture to culture.
O Demonstrate various
cultures comfort with
personal space.
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17. Develop
Critical
Thinking
Skills
O Critical thinking skills
O Necessary when
performing patient
assessment and care
O Higher level of
processing information
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

18. O Provide students with
a brief history to
Teaching
Example
por tray to the
assessor
Applying Critical Thinking in O Have students take
Patient Assessment turns role playing the
patient and the
assessor
O Be sure to praise the
examples of critical
thinking
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19. Provide
Options
for
Conflict
Resolution
Collaboration
is the Goal
Avoidance,
Competition,
Accommodation, and
Compromise are not
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.

20. Everyone
has
a
scope
of
practice
O Use what is
meaningful as
motivation
O Set the expectation
O Provide practice and
experiential
opportunities
O Provide options
©2012 Tyler & Associates, Inc.