Transactional analysis : a method of analysing communication

Midwives are required to develop effective and constructivecommunication skills for use within the workplace. When a student is on placement, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) essential skills clusters for care, compassion and communication are the first skills students are required to demonstrate to their mentor. Communication is an idiom that both students and staff sometimes find difficult toassimilate, with communication problems identified in vague terms. Accordingly, methods of clearly defining and assessing attainment are commonly requested of midwifery lecturers. To facilitate students, midwives, managers and lecturers with an instrument to assess good communication, the technique of transactional analysis (TA) is proposed