Bedside Manners For Medical Staff, Part 2

On Wednesday, we discussed the important of having a listening ear and showing enthusiasm, compassion, and empathy for your patients. Today, we’re going to finish up our discussion with two more ways to show good bedside manners.

3. Communicate
It’s not just important to actively listen to your patient. It’s also important to talk with your patient. How can you address your patient’s concerns? Have you explained the procedures in layman’s terms or in doctor terms? Have you nodded to let your patient know you hear him even though your back is turned because you’re setting up the equipment or reading a monitor? Have you made notes in your chart so that you can ask your patient, on his next visit if a concern resolved itself? Or have you made notes so that the patient’s doctor can follow-up on concerns you’re not qualified to answer? Have you asked enough questions to get a clear understanding of what the patient is trying to convey or did you simply dismiss the patient’s concerns and/or questions because you didn’t understand what he was asking?

4. Time
In a world where hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices run on tight schedules and 15 minute slots, it’s hard to not feel rushed and even harder to not put that tension on your patient. But it’s important to realize that no matter how rushed for time you feel or how scatter-brained you feel, you cannot let your patient see that. Your patient needs your undivided attention—even if all you can give him is five minutes of your time. Your patient needs to know that during those five minutes, he is all that matters.

To learn more about how bedside manners play a role in your medical career, check out these articles:

Bedside Manners And An Old Fashion Doctor

Good Bedside Manners Make A Difference

Doctors Urged To Mind Bedside Manners

Art of Communication

Come back on Monday to learn how to choose the right career for you from the staff of the Institute of Allied Medical Professions.

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.

Bedside Manners Count

When patients visit hospitals and doctors offices, they go because something isn’t right. When doctors request a set of medical tests all sorts of things run through the minds of patients.

“If the doctor’s baffled does that mean something is seriously wrong with me?” they quietly fret and worry.

That’s where bedside manners come in from those performing the tests. By taking the time to address any concerns, explaining procedures in layman’s terms, and even showing compassion and empathy, medical staff can ease fear and anxiety, making an unpleasant situation bearable.

Don’t think how you treat your patients matter?

One blogger still remembers the day, 6 years ago, when a radiographer treated her as a grunt for the military instead of a scared human being or the day, three years ago, when a radiographer decided the medical student was more important than the patient. Those may be just glimpses or forgotten memories to the medical staff who assisted her, but to this woman, their rude, inconsiderate behavior left a mental scar.

Fast forward to January 25, 2007. The same patient receives more tests, but this time from a radiographer who treated her with “kindness and respect”. Guess what happened? She publicly thanked the radiographer for treating her like a “human being.”

Yes, dear medical students and professionals, your bedside manners do make a difference in the lives of your patients. Remember how would you like to be treated if the roles were reversed and act accordingly.

Come back on Wednesday as we discuss the types of bedside manners you need to succeed in the field of medicine.