Annexe A: communication and relationship management skills
7 marks of the 100 in Part B, which runs for 150 minutes.
Annexe A is a list of communication skills the NMC expects a registered nurse to have, and Part B draws questions from it in its own right. These questions usually give you something a patient has said and four things a nurse could say back.
What this section asks about
- Active listening, and responding to what is not said as well as what is
- Open and closed questioning, and when each is the right tool
- Checking understanding, including teach-back rather than asking whether somebody understood
- Accessible information: interpreters, written material, sensory impairment and communication aids
- Clear records, reports and handover, including structured handover such as SBAR
- Difficult conversations, breaking bad news, and supporting somebody who is distressed
Where the marks go
7 marks of the 100 in Part B, which runs for 150 minutes. The NMC splits this section across the levels of Bloom's taxonomy:
- Remember and understand: 3
- Apply and analyse: 2
- Evaluate and create: 2
Where candidates lose marks
- Choosing reassurance. "I am sure it will be fine" closes a conversation the patient opened.
- Using a family member as an interpreter. Consent has to be informed, which means a professional interpreter.
- Asking "do you understand?". People say yes. Ask them to tell you what they will do.
Questions people ask
- Is Annexe A really examined separately?
- Yes. The published test specification draws Part B questions from Annexe A as its own category, alongside the seven platforms and Annexe B.
- Can I use a bilingual colleague instead of an interpreter?
- Not for consent or for clinical information. A professional interpreter is what the Code and the Accessible Information Standard require.
Practise this section
Practice is filtered by section, so you can work on this one on its own. Every account gets 10 new questions a day without a card.