-
Practice Tip Sheets for Careworkers Advance Care Planning Advanced Dementia Advanced Dementia Behavioural Changes After Death Choices Aged Care Access and Assessment Anxiety Cachexia Sarcopenia and Anorexia Case Conferences Complementary Therapies Constipation Continuity of Care Culturally Responsive Care Communication Distress at the End of Life Dysphagia Dyspnoea End of Life Care Pathways Eye Care Faecal Incontinence First Australians Communication Frailty Grief and Loss among Older People Families and Residents Grief and Loss among Staff Myths about Morphine Nutrition and Hydration Opioid Analgesics Oral Care Pain Management Palliative Care People with Intellectual Disability Communication People with Specific Needs Person Centred Care Psychosocial Assessment and Support Quality of Life Recognising Deterioration Respiratory Secretions Self Care Signs of Imminent Death Skin and Wound Care Spiritual Care Supporting Families Talking about Dying Talking within the Aged Care Team Next Steps for Careworkers
Tips for Nurses:
Talking within the Aged Care Team
What it is: Talking with members of the care team taking care of an older person. The team caring for a person with palliative care needs may include people with different skills including nurses, carers, GPs, allied health, and spiritual care practitioners.
Why it matters: Good communication between careworkers and other staff helps the quality of palliative care provided to clients or residents. It means everyone knows what to do and why. It also helps people to feel confident that staff know and understand what to do, and that they are providing appropriate care. The nurse has a leadership role within the team.
What I need to know: Often the Registered Nurse (RN) will pass information between team members, management, the older person and their family.
Effective communication is:
- open, honest, accurate
- respectful and sensitive
- may be formal (team meetings) or informal (casual meetings in the work area or staff room).
Written records are a common way for teams to communicate.
Effective communication:
- supports understanding between the sender and receiver of information
- is part of good teamwork.
Technology including electronic care records, email communication, telehealth meetings, and social media are changing the way people communicate. These new technologies need to be used carefully and in line with policies at your organisation.
Actions
Case conferences are one way to share information among the care team members.
If organising a case conference, document notes on the discussions and any decisions made.
Provide staff with tools to facilitate and document case conferences. This might include an invitation and questionnaire for families, and planning checklists and communication sheets for staff.
Support all staff involved in the care of a person to talk with the team and to share the information they have about the person.
Seeking advice from or observing more experienced colleagues communicate is one way to improve communication skills.
Tools
Tools that may be useful include:
iSoBAR is a structured framework for communicating the minimum information needed at handovers.
My reflections:
Improved team communication may lead to more effective care, better outcomes for the older person and greater staff satisfaction. How is information about a person being cared for communicated within care teams in my organisation?
CareSearch is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Updated May 2025
Page updated 4 August 2026
- Supporting Services
- palliAGED Products
- Practice Tip Sheets for Nurses
- Talking within the Aged Care Team