Online course for healthcare teams
Difficult communication in the ICU environment
Practice difficult ICU conversations with structured protocols, interactive exercises, immediate feedback, and virtual patients.
SPIKESNURSEVirtual patientsNo expiry
5core training areas
4virtual patient checkpoints
Self-pacedprogress stays available
General course objectives
A focused foundation for difficult conversations in ICU and other high-stakes clinical settings.
Communication principles
Acquire general principles for clear, respectful clinical communication.
SPIKES protocol
Learn and train a structured approach to delivering bad news.
NURSE protocol
Recognize and respond to emotions of patients and their loved ones.
End-of-life decisions
Practice communication for decisions near the end of life.
Clinical debriefing
Understand the principle of clinical debriefing and train its use.
What you can expect
This online course does not replace in-person communication training. It gives healthcare personnel a practical alternative when an in-person course is not possible, and it can prepare you to get more from future live training.
The course works best when you complete the interactive elements honestly. The virtual patients can be taken in unintended directions, and some exercises can be rushed, but the value comes from practicing the intended scenarios and reflecting on the feedback.
Designed for
Healthcare personnel who need flexible communication training
Study at your own pace, return to the material when needed, and practice conversations repeatedly without a fixed completion deadline.
How the course works
Each chapter shows its estimated difficulty and time commitment so you can plan study sessions realistically.
1
Structured chapters
Topics follow each other and unlock progressively. They cannot be skipped, so the learning path stays coherent.
2
Interactive exercises
Short tasks and longer written exercises guide you through the topic and provide immediate feedback.
3
Virtual patients
At the end of key chapters, you can practice acquired procedures as many times as you want.
4
Knowledge checks
Each chapter ends with a short test focused on the current topic.
Practice with enough time
Some exercises are brief. Others require longer written answers and more concentration.
Set aside enough time for the longer exercises. Your answers are analyzed and feedback is provided immediately. Before starting a virtual patient conversation, review the Virtual Patient chapter so you know how to work with the environment.
Start structured practice for difficult clinical conversations
Get access to the course, complete the chapters at your pace, and return to the virtual patient scenarios whenever you need more practice.
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