• clearly explaining care, diagnosis, investigations and/or treatments
  • involving the patient in decision-making
  • communicating with relatives and healthcare professionals
  • seeking and obtaining informed consent
  • active listening
  • dealing appropriately with an anxious person or anxious relatives
  • providing clear instructions on discharge
  • providing advice on lifestyle, health promotion or risk factors
  • demonstrating compassion and care during communication
  • clear documentation that meets the requirements of NMC (2018) ‘The Code’
  • professional behaviour
  • professional attitude. 
You should speak to the patient as you would any person you are meeting for the first time. If you are
being assessed using a manikin, please remember to verbalise your actions, and reasons for
actions, in the same way as you would with a real patient. If you ask the manikin a question, the
assessor will answer accordingly.

A. Approaching the patient/manikin
  • Introduce yourself and explain or clarify the purpose of the nursing encounter.
  • Check what the patient wants you to call them.
  • Be polite, respectful and non-judgemental, and maintain the patient’s dignity.
  • Be empathic, acknowledge the patient’s emotions or concerns, and show sensitivity to any discomfort.
  • Ensure that you gain consent from the patient (or carer/guardian for children or certain people with disabilities) prior to undertaking any procedures.
  • Be sensitive to personal space, stand or sit at an appropriate distance from the actor/manikin, and be aware of their body language. You are too close if the actor moves back or recoils.
  • Treat a manikin as you would a real patient.
B. Explaining and advising
  • Establish what the patient already knows and/or wants to know.
  • Explain clearly what you are going to do and why, so that the patient can understand.
  • Remember always to check whether the patient understands or has any questions.
  • Offer appropriate reassurance.
  • Do not alarm the patient but you must be able to explain the need for urgent action if it is required.
  • Do not routinely oversimplify names for parts of the body. It is reasonable to expect that most people will know common body names such as ‘bladder’, ‘ovary’, ‘womb’ and ‘vein’.
  • If you doubt a patient’s understanding, check and alter your communication to meet theirindividual needs.
  • Treat the manikin as you would a real person.
C. Involving the patient in management
  • Respect the patient’s autonomy, and help them to make a decision based on the available evidence-based information.
  • Explain information and its implications so that the patient can make an informed choice about their care.
  • Check the patient’s understanding and feelings about the proposed nursing interventions. They may not always agree with your proposed plan of care.
  • Treat the manikin as you would a real person.
D. Nursing assessment
  • You should be able to undertake an accurate nursing assessment and develop a plan of care.
  • Identify the patient’s nursing care needs accurately.
  • Listen attentively to the patient’s problems and concerns.
  • Use clear language, and question at a comfortable pace.
  • Clarify and check information, and summarise understanding.
  • Be able to plan safe and effective person-centred care, based on your nursing assessment and evidence-based best practice.