Ep65: James Watt, Palliative Care Nurse

Today my guest is James Watt, a Palliative Care Nurse. In this episode, we find out about James’ early life and upbringing in New Zealand and his study and training as a nurse. James shares insights into topics that are hard to talk about, for example those universal experiences such as death, dying and grief. James is particularly interested in how communication might be improved in health care, especially in palliative care, that is, supporting people who have a life-limiting illness. We chat about how James develops communication skills of his healthcare colleagues, and the micro skills in this area: naming an emotion, using the seemingly simple phrase ‘tell me more’, validating and listening as a way to acknowledge the patient, summarising and reflecting back. We also discuss the central role of empathy, a skill that can be developed, and the use of non-verbal communication and words that demonstrate that empathy and making it explicit. James reflects on his clinical and staff training experiences during COVID and his thoughts on trauma, anger, fear, anxiety, isolation and collective grief in a post-pandemic world. We explore how James uses learning design skills to further expand and enhance his training and development techniques within health care, helping staff recognise and understand the complexities of grief. James emphasises how all people can use these valuable communication skills in their everyday lives. Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-watt-0669b7244/