Shaping effective communication skills and therapeutic relationships at work: the foundation of collaboration

Effective communication is essential to practice and can result in improved interpersonal relationships at the workplace. Effective communication is shaped by basic techniques such as open-ended questions, listening, empathy, and assertiveness. However, the relationship between effective communication and successful interpersonal relationships is affected by intervening variables. The variables of gender, generation, context, collegiality, cooperation, self-disclosure, and reciprocity can impede or enhance the outcome of quality communication. It is essential for occupational health nurses to qualitatively assess the degree to which each of these concepts affects communication and, in turn, relationships at work.