Communication happens constantly in healthcare settings—often under pressure, with limited time, and high expectations. While clinical and technical skills are formally taught, communication habits are more often learned informally through observation, experience, and necessity.
Over time, these patterns become automatic. Self-awareness becomes the first step in recognizing how communication styles influence conversations, working relationships, and outcomes—especially when tension, stress, or misunderstanding shows up.
Strengthening Communication Through Self-Awareness
Why Self-Awareness Matters in Workplace Communication
Most communication breakdowns don’t happen because of bad intent. They happen because people bring different expectations, stress responses, and communication styles into the same environment.
Without self-awareness, it’s easy for assumptions to replace clarity, frustration to replace curiosity, and avoidance to replace direct conversation. When individuals pause to reflect on how they communicate—not just what they say—they create space for more productive and respectful dialogue.
Self-awareness in communication often begins with a few simple questions:
• What am I reacting to in this moment?
• What outcome am I hoping this conversation leads to?
• How might this sound or feel on the receiving end?
A Simple Framework for Raising Concerns
Healthy communication doesn’t mean avoiding issues. It means addressing them in a way that keeps the focus on clarity, respect, and solutions. One effective approach is to structure conversations around three elements:
Observation:
Describe what you experienced using specific, neutral language — without assumptions or labels.
Impact:
Share how the exchange affected you, your work, the team or outcomes.
Request:
State what would be helpful moving forward
Example:
“I wanted to check in about schedule changes. When they happen without much notice, it makes it harder for me to prepare and support patient flow. I think earlier communication would really help—what do you think?”
Example of What Not to Say:
“The schedule keeps changing and it’s making everything harder. We can’t keep working like this. People need to communicate better.”
This may sound simple, but most of us have experienced both sides of this — whether delivering the message or receiving it. The contrast reinforces how tone, clarity, and intent shape how communication is heard, not just what is said.
Building Healthier Communication Habits Over Time
Communication skills aren’t about perfection. They’re about intention, awareness, and consistency. When individuals are supported in learning how to raise concerns early, respectfully, and clearly, teams experience fewer misunderstandings and stronger working relationships.
Small adjustments in communication—made consistently—can significantly reduce unnecessary conflict and support more sustainable, collaborative healthcare environments.
Closing Perspective: Grace, Accountability, and Shared Intent
Most healthcare teams are built for the long haul — or at least that is the intention. When people work closely together day after day, familiarity naturally develops. With that familiarity often comes a more casual communication style, which can be positive and supportive. At times, however, it can also lead to conversations becoming more critical than intended.
It’s important to remember that when something doesn’t go as planned — a room not set up exactly as expected, an instrument missing, or directions misunderstood — it is far more likely the result of a misunderstanding or system breakdown than a lack of effort or care. Very few people come to work intending to make mistakes or create challenges for others.
When organizations hire team members, it’s because they believe in their competence and potential. That belief matters. Approaching conversations from a place of trust and curiosity helps preserve working relationships while still addressing accountability.
Healthy cultures make room for both grace and responsibility. Holding one another accountable — including leadership and providers — should feel safe, respectful, and focused on improvement rather than fault. When people trust that they will be met with fairness and understanding, communication becomes clearer, collaboration improves, and teams are better equipped to grow together.
Conversations don’t go sideways because people don’t care. More often, they do because communication happens in moments of stress, urgency, or assumption. A brief pause before addressing a concern can help prevent misunderstandings and keep conversations focused on solutions rather than frustration.
A Simple Communication Pause
Before addressing a concern, take a moment to ask yourself:
Did this happen intentionally, or could there be a misunderstanding?
What facts do I know — and what might I be assuming?
What is my role in this situation?
What outcome am I hoping for?
How can I approach this with clarity and respect?
Leadership Resource: The Communication Pause Card
Before addressing a concern, it can be helpful to pause and reflect. This simple card was designed as a quick self-check to support calmer, clearer conversations—especially in fast-paced clinical environments.
It’s not about blame. It’s about creating space for understanding, accountability, and solution-focused dialogue.
This resource is intended to support respectful communication and shared accountability at every level of the team.