The receiver of the message is an often-cited barrier for clinicians voicing a concern, yet little is known what helps or inhibits reception of the message. Training programs focus on how to teach people to speak up with little attention paid on how to listen and respond, overwhelmingly this is due to the paucity in receiver focused studies within healthcare speaking up literature. Receiver behaviour was comprehensively studied within three differing communication contexts and through the lens of a robust communication theory. Receiver behaviour was explored via described actual speaking up interactions, hypothetical interactions via vignettes and observed receiver behaviour within simulations. The collective results from the mixed methods receiver focused studies indicate that speaker centric research is not generalisable to the receiver of the same message.  Message reception and response is complex and particularly dependent on professional identity and context. Nurses and midwives’ reception and response differed greatly to medical officers and allied health. Current speaking up training does not adequately acknowledge or teach effective message reception. The Receiver Mindset Framework©, a tool to help train and prepare clinicians to receive speaking up messages, aims to address this gap, and will be presented. The hope in creating the Receiver Mindset Framework is that training programs shift their focus from the singular act of speaking up (one voice), to speaking up being a shared interaction (shared voice) equally between the speaker and receiver.

Melanie is a Registered Nurse and the National Academic Lead for Specialised Learning Environments and Simulation at Australian Catholic University. She has held numerous education roles: Clinical Educator- Intensive Care, Education Coordinator of new graduate programs and clinical placements, Lecturer in Nursing, Director of Simulation, and Head of Evaluation and Research.

Since 2011, she has focused on designing, delivering, and evaluating simulation-based learning both within the healthcare and higher education sectors. Melanie has a passion is improving healthcare communication, completing her PhD in this field.