The importance of soft skills in healthcare

“I believe attainment of soft skills are vital to the success of our graduating Moraine Park Technical College students,” said Ronaldo Cordeiro M.S., Allied Health Academic Advisor.

Why? Well, he thinks of it this way:

“If I’m ever the one in a hospital bed…  All the blips, beeps, and chirps of modern healthcare technology are not necessarily going to make me feel well. I would want to know that my caregivers are interested in my overall well-being. Capable healthcare professionals – like our Moraine Park graduates – are not only taught to demonstrate competence, but also to connect with patients in a kind, caring, and empathic way.”

This philosophy has led to many initiatives at Moraine Park to help better foster these “connections.” One such recent example was a presentation given to students by Charles Krebs, a communications professional, based out of Kohler, Wis.

Krebs is a university professor, motivational speaker, conference facilitator, actor, and director. In 2012, he formed Communication Arts, a consulting firm specializing in business communication. His dynamic presentations presentation at Moraine Park helped examine different ways our students could demonstrate soft skills in the healthcare environment.

Kreb’s feels that 90 percent of what people communicate has nothing to do with what they say? Rather it has to do with how people say it and how they interact. Krebs, using humor, examples, hands-on activities and demonstrations, showed Moraine Park students different tactics for how they can improve the way they speak to and interact with patients and families.

This presentation was made possible due to a team effort. Ronaldo studied some of the issues related to humanistic communication and soft skills attainment at Graduate school (Concordia University Wisconsin). With this background, he sought out feedback from various Moraine Park Program Advisory group members and asked the question: Could our students benefit from a workshop that highlights soft skills in an interactive way?

They identified an opportunity to further discuss importance of soft skills with our Allied Health Students, and worked with Dean Raad, Allied Health Faculty and Grants Department to bring this event to fruition.

Here’s a few photos from the day:

To learn more about Moraine Park’s health programs and other offerings, visit morainepark.edu/programs.