Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health care providers by their approach to patient caretraining, and scope of practice. Nurses practice in many specialties with differing levels of prescription authority. Many nurses provide care within the ordering scope of physicians, and this traditional role has shaped the public image of nurses as care providers. However, nurse practitioners are permitted by most jurisdictions to practice independently in a variety of settings. Since the postwar period, nurse education has undergone a process of diversification towards advanced and specialized credentials, and many of the traditional regulations and provider roles are changing.

In order to achieve effective business communications you must understand the context in which communications take place and identify all the elements which contribute to successful communication. We start, then, by considering the nature of communications in business organisations and move on to examine the basic principles of the communication process.

Finally, here, we go on to consider the key factors which influence the effectiveness or otherwise of communications. There are many things that can get in the way of successful communications and we shall look in detail at these, including a case study where you can use the understanding you have gained to identify barriers to successful communication in a real-life situation.