Communication: Staff Specialist Interview Questions Australia
Communication appears in every position description and is tested through a difficult conversation, a complaint and open disclosure. Panels want a real conversation and knowledge of the national open disclosure framework.
Updated 26 October 2026
How to answer
Describe one conversation that was actually hard, step through it, and say how it ended. For complaints, follow the hospital's process, apologise for the experience without prejudging the facts, and support the staff involved. For interpreters, never a family member for anything clinical.
Frameworks: SPIKES for difficult conversations; ISBAR for handover
- SBAR Situation: who the patient is and the one line problem, Background: the relevant history, Assessment: what you think is going on and how unwell they are, Recommendation: what you want the senior to do and when. Full guide →
- STAR Situation in a sentence, Task: what you had to do, Action: what you did in the first person, Result: the outcome with a number where there is one. Add Reflection for STARR. Full guide →
- Asked in most interviewsUsually asked by the nurse unit manager or director of nursingSPIKES
Describe a time you had to communicate with a patient or family in a difficult situation.
SPIKES: setting, perception, invitation, knowledge, empathy, strategy. One real conversation, what made it hard, what you did at each step and how it ended. Reflect on what you would do differently.
How do you respond to a complaint about your care, or your department's care?
Listen, take it seriously, apologise for the experience without prejudging the facts, follow the hospital's complaints process and keep the person informed. Say how you support the staff involved and what you change afterwards. One example makes it real.
Tell us about a time you took part in open disclosure after an adverse event.
Describe the event, who was present, what was said about what happened, the apology, and the follow up. Show you know the national open disclosure framework and that it is a process, not a single conversation.
How do you make sure patients and carers understand, and are part of, decisions about their care?
Plain language, checking understanding with teach back, involving carers with the patient's consent, interpreters when needed, written information and a named contact. One example of a decision you changed because of what a patient told you.
Give us an example of a handover or communication failure you have seen, and how it was fixed.
A real failure, its cause (a handover without structure, an assumption, a missed result), what was done about it and whether it stuck. Mention ISBAR and the structural fix, not just better intentions.
How do you communicate with a patient who needs an interpreter, or whose health literacy is low?
Book a professional interpreter, never a family member for anything clinical, allow double time, use teach back and written material, and document the interpreter's use. For low health literacy, one message at a time and check it landed.