Communication is one of the basic skills in healthcare, which today has become not only a need but also an obligation of every healthcare worker. Considering that nurses spend the most time with patients, it is very important that these health workers strengthen their communication skills. A high-quality level of communication skills affects the patient's satisfaction with the service provided and the outcome of the treatment itself, as well as the reduced number of complaints and lawsuits.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the communication between the patient and the healthcare workers was disrupted. Patients and their families complain about the lack of information, the attitude of health workers towards them, the short consultation time, and the impossibility of contact with the family. On the other hand, nurses complained about the increased number of patients and about working under difficult conditions, as well as fear for their own health and the health of their family.

Also, in the era of the corona virus pandemic, health workers faced numerous criticisms from the public, unfounded accusations and misunderstanding, which caused damage to their reputation and consequently undermined the trust of patients. Media professionals have a wrong or insufficient perception of the complexity of the work of the medical staff and limited access to health information. Therefore, healthcare workers are faced with the task of independent communication through the media and public appearances. The use of the media as a tool for communication with citizens should result in the transmission of adequate, scientifically proven and expert views to the public, and in strengthening the trust of patients.

Within the Strengthening Nursing in Bosnia and Herzegovina Project, and under the auspices of the entity ministries of health, a training program was developed and implemented aimed at acquiring specialized theoretical knowledge and practical skills to improve effective communication in nursing. A total of 242 nurses from health institutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska and Brcko District have undergone the three-day training.

Topics such as nurse-patient communication, principles and skills of media communication, crisis communication and others were covered.