Communication with patients and colleagues for doctors

"Patient and Team Communication for Doctors" is a training and workbook by Dr Stefanie Schnichels, 136 pages long, published by Urban & Fischer Verlag (Elsevier). It is aimed at anyone working in a hospital or GP practice for whom communication is a core skill in the medical profession, not a secondary concern.

At its core is a practical toolkit of conversational techniques based on Non-Violent Communication and combined with solution- and resource-oriented approaches. You’ll learn how to connect with the person you’re speaking to – whether a patient, a relative, a team colleague or a staff member – even in brief conversations, how to build trust, and how to avoid or resolve misunderstandings or conflicts. The book covers communication with patients and their relatives as well as team communication and conducting conversations in difficult, highly emotional situations. Case studies bring the content to life in everyday practice.

It was written by Dr Stefanie Schnichels, herself a doctor and now a communication trainer for doctors and other medical professionals. She worked for over fifteen years at a rehabilitation clinic for adults and children on Lake Chiemsee before training as a trainer in Non-Violent Communication and as a mediator. Since 2011, she has been working as a communication trainer and coach in her own practice in Traunstein.