Course Overview
Integrating concepts from psychology, sociology, and interpersonal relations, this course teaches students essential active listening and interpersonal communication skills for working in interdisciplinary and multicultural healthcare settings. Students learn foundational interpersonal communication skills, including emotion regulation, active listening, nonverbal communication, empathy, probes, feedback, and assertion. Using role-plays and scenario-based learning, students practice responding to common healthcare situations, including working with patients/clients in distress, asking sensitive questions, navigating conflict, setting professional boundaries, responding to feedback, and speaking up to promote safety. This course emphasizes self-awareness, trauma-informed care, anti-racism, and communication skills to promote cultural safety and humility. Classroom sessions integrate clinical scenarios, role plays, and group discussions. Active participation and engagement with material is expected. Evaluation of learning is based on assignments, exam(s), presentation, and communication skill utilization.
Prerequisite(s)
- No prerequisites are required for this course.
Credits
3.0
- Not offered this term
- This course is not offered this term. Notify me to receive email notifications when the course opens for registration next term.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Use abdominal breathing and mindfulness strategies to manage own emotions.
- Use active listening skills to foster rapport, built trust, and obtain information from patients/clients and support persons.
- Develop strategies to adjust communication for individual differences that impact interactions and treatment in a clinical setting.
- Apply the concept of empathy to create respectful, supportive, and compassionate relations with patients/clients and co-workers.
- Perform various types of assertion according to appropriateness and desired result.
- Develop strategies for giving and receiving feedback that emphasize accountability, respect, and professional growth.
- Understand the concepts of cultural safety and cultural humility and how they apply to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.
- Use skills and strategies to promote cultural safety and demonstrate respect, empathy, and sensitivity to the diversity of individuals.
- Recognize the client/patient's need for physical and emotional safety, as well as collaboration, choice, and control in decisions affecting their treatment.
- Identify barriers to care that gender-diverse people commonly face and describe strategies for creating accessible and affirming services.
- Explain the impact of stress and develop an individualized plan to cope with stress, burnout, compassion fatigue, grief, and loss in the healthcare environment.
Effective as of Fall 2025
Related Programs
Human Behaviour (NMED) (BHSC 1440) is offered as a part of the following programs:
School of Health Sciences
- Nuclear Medicine
Diploma Full-time
Programs and courses are subject to change without notice. Find out more about BCIT course cancellations.