Bedside Manners For Medical Staff

When students hear the words bedside manners, their first impulse is to think, “But only doctors and nurses need to have bedside manners. We’re simply technicians working with equipment that scans the human body for illness, why do we need to have bedside manners? What could we possibly say that would affect our patients so negatively?”

Our reply at the Institute of Applied Medical Professsions is always “Everything.”

From the time your patient walks into your room, he (or she) needs both your empathy and your compassion. Just take a look at the list of bedside manners we’ve compiled to help you in your medical profession:

1. Listening Ear
You may only see your patient once in his/her lifetime. You may believe there’s no reason to take the time to listen to the patient’s concerns but that’s where you’re wrong. Even if all you do is listen as you perform the tests, listen.

You may have run that piece of machinery a thousand times, but it’s very likely it’s the first time your patient is seeing this piece of machinery. You know how much radiation is harmful, but your patient never went to school to study the effects of radiation. Your patient is scared about why the tests need to be taken in the first place, he needs someone to hear his concerns and offer comfort. You are that person.

2. Enthusiasm
Your energy and enthusiasm for your job gives comfort to your patient. Not only do you need to appear confident in your abilities to run the complicated machinery, such as the CT Scan, but you need to appear genuinely interested in your patient. How his he feeling? Does the closed CT scanning equipment make him uncomfortable? Is the colored die being administered into his veins burning? Is that normal and if so, can you reassure your patient? Is your patient back for another series of scans? Do you remember your patient as the human being he is, or have you already forgotten him—even though it’s his fifth trip to you in 3 months?

Come back on Friday as we finish up our discussion on bedside manners.