Designed for students and newly-qualified nurses, this provides an introductory guide to interviewing skills and communication techniques for health professionals. Communication between nurses (and between other allied health professionals) and patients is recognised as a vital subject on the nursing / allied health curriculum. It is one of the branches of the Common Foundation Programme which all student nurses have to study. This practical book aims to put communication into context for health professionals. It is illustrated with case studies to demonstrate various strategies for communication (interaction) and the main skills required to communicate effectively. The book looks at how to give information to patients as well as how to get it from them and should be useful to those in nursing, midwifery and health visiting.