Doctors and nurses of the Iashvili Children’s Hospital improve patient communication as a result of trainings organized by UNICEF

Tbilisi, Georgia. 20 March 2023 - UNICEF and Iashvili Children's Hospital launched a series of trainings for 300 doctors and nurses to improve their communication with patients. The trainings covered a range of topics such as ethical and legal considerations of medical practice, effective communication with patients and colleagues, media relations, crises communication and vaccination-related communication.

The goal of the trainings is to enhance the ability of medical staff to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients and their families, which is an essential component of providing quality healthcare. The training course "Communication, ethics and legal issues in the practice of medical staff" has been mainstreamed within the continuing medical education programme and will be accessible to all health practitioners.

The sessions were led by international and Georgian experts, offering interactive and evidence-based training package to help the health practitioners to identify and address their own biases and misconceptions and to equip them with the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need for positive and meaningful interpersonal communication.

Health providers have always been an important and trusted source of information for parents and caregivers. The way they interact with families and the quality of their communication and engagement may have a positive or negative influence on patients’ decision to immunize.