The Importance of Communication Skills for
Nursing Jobs in Canada

The importance of communication skills must be strongly emphasized when preparing for nursing jobs in Canada. All types of nurses are required under regulatory nursing standards of practice to be able to communicate effectively with patients and co-workers alike.

The nursing entrance test for Canada will test nusing communication knowledge for both collaborative and and therapeutic communication.

Nursing communication skills in Canada must reach beyond verbal dialogue and English proficiency. Entry level nursing competencies for all types of nursing require that nurses are able to use interpersonal, written, and electronic communication skills in all interactions in their work within the Canadian health care system.

Interpersonal Nursing Communication Skills

Professional nursing communication is the foundation for the nurse patient relationship in all nursing jobs in Canada. Using communication skills to help patients to explore and express their thoughts and feelings is the essence of therapeutic communication.

The Canadian society is culturally diverse and language creates significant barriers for important issues like informed consent or health teaching.

The importance of communication within this rich diversity is emphasized in all nursing jobs and cross cultural communication theory is an expected behavioural nursing competency for entry level practitioners.

Electronic Communication Skills

Nurses entering the workforce who were educated in Canada will be computer literate because of the way the nursing programs incorporate electronic communication for instruction. In this way in addition to meeting the course requirements and learning outcomes, nursing students develop basic competencies in electronic communication that prepares them to use technology in the workplace.

Starting a nursing job in Canada without technology skills presents barriers to communication with other health care professionals. Basic electronic communication skills are necessary to maintain patient records and even in some settings to complete basic nursing tasks like ordering and dispensing medication.

Written Communication Skills

Health care documentation is of course a language unto itself! Cursive writing, the use of many abbreviations for medical terminology, and regional differences can all influence nursing communication in the written format.

There is a lot of communication in the Canadian health care system that occurs through electronic communication, but some forms of communication still occur in the written form. This is especially true for doctors orders and nursing documentation.

Being able to read and write in the english language is necessary for all nursing jobs in Canada except in the province of Quebec, where you must be proficient in French.

If English is not your first language then you will be required to prove your English language skills before permission is granted to write the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam.

Both the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Exam and the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam test competencies related to communication and all provinces have nursing standards of practice that require nursing communication skills in all workplace interactions, including therapeutic communication, conflict resolution, assertiveness, and written communication.

Nursing jobs in Canada require well developed nursing communication skills in order to ensure that the Canadian public receives safe, competent, and ethical care.

Creating a strong emphasis on the importance of communication in the health care system also ensures that nurses have the ability to engage in collaborative practice as part of the interdisciplinary team based approach.

All of the nursing competency categories on the Canadian Registered nurse exam blueprint include a statement about nursing communication. This is more evidence of the importance of communication for nursing jobs in Canada.