Bedside Manner Blog

Practitioners who perform procedures that are either boring or frightening to most patients should find treatment humor extremely helpful. This material doesn’t work for treating patients under general anesthesia - I do hope that is obvious. When explaining your procedure to a patient, you can get a good laugh or at least set the tone away from seriousness with this offering: DOCTOR “During this procedure there will be absolutely no pain (pause) for me and my staff.”  You emphasize absolutely. This line provides a great use of the unexpected to engende ...

COMEDY IN HEALTHCARE     It was entertainment night at the senior center. The amazing Claude was appearing that night and the crowd waited anxiously to see the famed hypnotist. When Claude came to the stage, he announced, “Unlike most hypnotists who invite two or three people from the audience to come up and get put into a trance, I intend to hypnotize each and every member of the audience.” He removed a beautiful antique watch from his coat pocket and said, “I want each and every one of you to keep your eye on this antique watch. It’s a ve ...

A woman went to doctors the office. She was seen by one of the new doctors, but after about 4 minutes in the examination room, she burst out, screaming as she ran down the hall. An older doctor stopped and asked her what the problem was, and she explained. He had her sit down and relax in another room. The older doctor marched back to the first and demanded, "What's the matter with you? Mrs. Johnson is 65 years old, she has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?" The new doctor smiled smugly as he continued to write on his clipb ...

All kinds of people choose the healing arts, just like any other field of endeavor. Some of them are unsavory characters and some just make bad choices in critical areas of their lives. Patients expect a higher level of behavior from those to whom they entrust their care. ____ The research a medical doctor performed for a major drug company was called into question after he was arrested on his front lawn, brandishing a gun, naked except for underwear that hid his cocaine along with his private parts. ____ An orthodontist was convicted of molesting young girls and went to pri ...

Compassion is the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it. It isn’t only showing concern for a major loss like the death of a loved one, for example. You can also show compassion for the patient whose financial problems force them to choose a less than ideal treatment. Compassion is being able to put yourself in another person’s place. Feel what they feel. It would be nice if compassion were a universal trait that needed no instruction, but not everyone seems innately capable of understanding the problems of others, especi ...

The goal of seeking out healthcare is to resolve one problem or another. Who wouldn’t want to see the very best, most competent practitioner around? How can the image of competence be better portrayed than through exuding confidence? ____ A Dental Specialist Says I get to see the quality of many practitioners’ work. The most interesting phenomenon about how many doctors are perceived by their patients is through the confidence they exhibit. I know two fellows in particular who had enormous practices and their patients’ loved them even though they may have been ...

WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS – THE HANDOUTS Written handouts are a simple way to communicate more effectively with your patients, and they require no personality or social skills on your part, as do oral communications. Besides enhancing your bedside manner by utilizing good communication skills, written handouts, diagrams used in explaining procedures, and signed consent forms will help keep you out of the courtroom. Most plaintiffs’ attorneys won’t take a case when they see great documentation and the damages are not significant. Even if you end up in court, it is very ...

As one of the pillars of bedside manner, the benefit of communication cannot be overemphasized. Not only will your patients benefit by being more compliant when they understand instructions, but you will prevent many costly, stressful, time-consuming lawsuits. Two areas of professional practice require strong communications skills: treatment plans (including description of treatment, other options, expected outcome, and postoperative sequelae), and financial considerations. COMMUNICATING THE TREATMENT PLAN When a patient understands their treatment plan, they have more realistic ...