Consent, privacy and communication
Evidence-based skills, language and disability access, and what U.S. boards and accreditors expect
U.S. licensed health professionals: physicians, PAs, nurse practitioners and other APRNs, RNs and LPN/LVNs, pharmacists, dentists and dental hygienists, and allied health professionals.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a board inquiry.
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
This course teaches U.S. licensed health professionals how to communicate with patients in ways that are clear, respectful and safe. It covers the whole encounter: opening and eliciting the full agenda, understanding the patient's perspective, responding to emotion and anger, giving serious news, explaining so that information is remembered, writing materials and portal messages patients can use, and closing well. It also covers the legal duties that make communication possible for everyone, including the Section 1557 language access rules, the ADA's effective communication requirements and the National CLAS Standards, and how to work skillfully with interpreters.
It is written for physicians, PAs, nurse practitioners and other APRNs, RNs and LPN/LVNs, pharmacists, dentists and dental hygienists, therapists, technologists and other allied professionals, in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, dental offices, home health and telehealth. It is useful for anyone who wants to strengthen everyday communication, and for licensees who have received patient complaints, low patient experience scores or a concern from an employer or state board.
Communication matters in the United States because it is written into professional codes, CMS Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission standards and training competencies, and because patients rate it publicly through HCAHPS and CAHPS surveys. Research on plaintiff depositions, recorded visits and unsolicited complaints shows that how clinicians listen, explain and respond is closely tied to complaints and claims. Informed consent and disclosure after harm are covered in separate courses; this course focuses on the skills and duties of everyday patient communication.
10 sections · 23 lessons · 3 hours · 20-question final assessment
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
Certificate of completion
Certificate of completion. Not CE or CME credit unless accepted by your board.
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your learning portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Yes. Studies of plaintiff depositions, recorded visits and unsolicited patient complaints link how clinicians listen, explain and respond to the risk of complaints and malpractice claims. The course summarizes that evidence and then teaches specific behaviors, such as eliciting the full agenda and responding to emotion with NURSE statements, that address the patterns it describes.
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and its language access rules, disability-law duties to communicate effectively and the National CLAS Standards set expectations for language and disability access. The course explains when a qualified interpreter is needed, why family members and untrained staff are risky, and how to work skillfully with interpreters in person and remotely.
Yes. A section on emotion and difficult conversations covers responding to emotion, de-escalating anger safely in line with workplace violence prevention expectations, and delivering serious news using SPIKES and Ask-Tell-Ask. Worked scenarios come from clinics, pharmacies, dental offices and hospital settings, so the scripts fit different professions.
It does. You learn to write portal messages that are clear, safe and appropriately brief, to assess handouts with the PEMAT tool, and to explain information in plain language so it is remembered. Telehealth, families and caregivers, adolescents and people living with dementia each get specific guidance.
$89 for three self-paced hours online, starting immediately. Checks follow each module and the final 20 questions need 80%; a pass brings the certificate and a review of your own consultation habits. Separate courses deal with consent and with disclosure after harm.
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: state practice acts and board rules, federal law and national professional codes of ethics. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
Informed consent from Canterbury v. Spence to the bedside: five elements, capacity, surrogates, minors, interpreters, intimate exams and documentation.
Disclosing adverse events and errors: AMA Opinion 8.6, state disclosure and apology laws, communication-and-resolution programs and second-victim support.
Bias in clinical judgment, algorithms and devices, plus Section 1557, Section 504 and ADA duties after the 2025 and 2026 federal policy changes.
