Nonverbal Communication Skills for Healthcare Professionals

As a healthcare professional, you have important conversations regularly. Your body language, also referred to as your nonverbal communication, contributes to those conversations, even if you don’t realize it. That’s why it’s important to understand the nonverbal signals you’re sending – especially when working in patient-facing healthcare roles such as nursing assistant, medical assistant, and patient care technician.

Why Is Nonverbal Communication Important in Healthcare?

Effective communication in healthcare extends beyond what is said verbally. If a healthcare professional displays concern by placing a hand on a patient’s shoulder, for instance, the patient may feel cared for, enhancing feelings of trust and safety within the relationship. Conversely, not looking the patient in the eye when speaking to them may send a signal that you’re too busy for them or may cause them to feel unimportant.

The person you’re speaking with might also pay more attention to your nonverbal communication than your words, especially if your body language is saying something different. An example would be telling a patient that you’re glad to see them, but not smiling when you say it or using a tone that suggests you’re more annoyed than glad. Conflicting cues can leave them feeling confused, potentially negatively impacting your relationship.

Tips for Improving Nonverbal Communication Skills

Improving your nonverbal communication skills can help you communicate more effectively. Here are some tips you can use throughout your career, whether working as a nursing assistant, phlebotomy technician, or in another healthcare role.

Increase Your Body Language Awareness

Many mannerisms can be performed subconsciously, meaning that you don’t know when you’re doing them. They can become a part of your personality, which may make them hard to change without a lot of concentration and effort. A good first step to changing ones that may not be working in your favor is to become more aware that they exist.

For the next few days, pay attention to what you do when you speak and which mannerisms you tend to repeat. Maybe you run your fingers through your hair when feeling nervous or wring your hands when under stress. By becoming more aware of your nonverbal tendencies, you’re able to target the ones that need to be improved.

How do you know which ones may need to be worked on? Consider how each nonverbal communication cue affects you when you observe someone else doing it. You can also ask coworkers or peers if any of your body language is distracting or comes across as negative to them. This can help you identify which nonverbal communication skills you may need to address.

Show That You’re Listening

It’s important to listen to others when in a conversation. Equally important is your ability to show that you’re listening. How do you show this nonverbal communication skill in healthcare roles?

Try not to multitask when speaking with patients or other healthcare professionals. Stop what you’re doing to pay direct attention and show respect. Research suggests that you might even remember the details of the conversation better since you’re focusing on what is being said versus being distracted by something else.¹

Also, avoid any urges to check the time or look around the room. Turn your torso to face the person and maintain eye contact throughout the conversation. Lean slightly toward them to convey interest in the conversation and use subtle nodding to show that you’re listening.

If you’re not really listening but more so waiting for your chance to speak, your body language may reveal it. Raising your eyebrows, holding your breath, and pressing your lips together could all be interpreted as signs that you’re not fully listening and waiting for a chance to interrupt. Limiting these types of nonverbal cues helps convey that you’re giving the other person your full attention as opposed to mentally preparing your next statement.

Use Your Hands with Purpose

Using your hands when speaking helps grab the recipient’s attention, also improving their ability to retain what you are saying.² That makes these gestures potentially helpful when delivering important care instructions or other information you want them to be able to recall.

With this in mind, what you do with your hands when speaking matters. Here are some common hand gestures and the messages they might convey:

Rubbing the palms together rapidly conveys a positive expectation, making it a potential gesture to use when delivering good news, such as encouraging test results.

Steepled hands can convey both feelings of confidence and being in a position of authority. A raised steeple can cause you to come across as a know-it-all, whereas a lowered steeple signifies that you’re listening and interested in what the other person is saying.

Clenching one’s hands together conveys strong negative emotion or mood, so this position may be best if avoided to keep the interaction positive.

Keep Smiling

Working as a medical administrative assistant, pharmacy technician, or dental assistant can sometimes involve experiencing emotional situations with patients. They might fear a specific procedure or be concerned about their diagnosis. Because of this, it’s helpful to become somewhat of a cheerleader and practice smiling when you talk.

What if you’re in a healthcare position that requires wearing a face mask? Smile anyway. Research involving patients and family members during the COVID-19 pandemic – a time when masks were worn by both healthcare professionals and patients – found that smiles are still detectable when behind a mask.³ The crinkle of the skin at the eyes’ edges and care within a practitioner’s gaze can help a patient and their loved ones feel welcome and cared for.

To practice this nonverbal communication skill, spend time with friends or in front of the mirror working on your ability to smile during all kinds of conversations. You can also record a short self-video using your smartphone or computer camera to see how your face changes when you smile to better understand the effect this can have on others.

Nonverbal Communication Is Not One-Size-Fits-All

When working to improve your nonverbal communication in healthcare settings, it helps to remember that not all stances, gestures, or facial expressions are interpreted the same by every person.

A gesture that may offer calm and comfort to someone from one type of culture or background may not be construed the same by someone from a different culture or background. Nonverbal communication cues can also be interpreted differently by people within a similar culture or background due to individual differences.

So, even if you intend to portray a certain sentiment with your nonverbal communication, it’s important to develop an awareness of how others are reacting to you. If they’re not positively responding to your body language, explore a different approach or ask them how they’re feeling. Keeping the lines of communication open can help enhance the professional-patient relationship while, at the same time, improving both your verbal and nonverbal communication skills in healthcare settings.

Want to further improve your skills as a healthcare professional? Here are a few articles to check out next:

• Leadership Skills for Healthcare Careers
• Recognizing Your Abilities and Expanding Your Skills
• 6 Vital Nursing Assistant Communication Skills and How to Improve Them

¹ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00426-021-01615-1

² https://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap6.html

³ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2023.102660