Bedside Manner Blog

Each professional must decide how to address patients and how they would prefer to be titled. Some doctors strive for a casual office while others prefer formality. There is a way to have both and to please most everyone. The way to greet patients varies from one geographic or socioeconomic setting to another. As a rule of thumb, staff should address young patients (under thirty years of age) by first name and older patients (over thirty years of age) by surnames. Doctors may use first names for most patients under sixty years of age. A twenty-year-old calling an eighty-year-old wom ...

The Top Ten Things You Should Never Say During Surgery 10. “Don't worry. I think it is sharp enough.” 9. “Nurse, did this patient sign the organs donation card?” 8. “Damn! Page eighty-four of the manual is missing!” 7. “Everybody stand back! I lost a contact lens!” 6. “Hand me that...uh...that uh.....thingie.” 5. “Better save that. We'll need it for the autopsy.” 4. “What do you mean ’You want a divorce?’” 3. “Whoa, wait a minute, if this is his splee ...