Question

You are assisting a new patient, Jeffrey, age 23, with completing the new patient assessment form. He is not very talkative and you have a hunch that he is not going to openly share his personal information with you. You know that honest answers are necessary to provide him the best care possible.

1. Describe how you would attempt to build a rapport with Jeffrey that will earn his trust so that he is comfortable revealing the private information in his health history.
2. Provide 2 example open ended questions that you could ask Jeffery to provoke a more open response.
3. Explain how other communication barriers could prevent the medical professional from gathering patient information, using examples.

Answer 1

1) Effective communication is the foundation on which you can build trust with your patients. You go through a getting-to-know-you phase with the patient that works much better if you can quickly establish a snapshot of their life, such as learning about their hobbies, friends, family, and their day to day activities and working environment. Getting to know what he likes will help you engage and start conversations with Jeffrey and make him feel comfortable. A major part of being a good communicator as a nurse is clearly educating patients on the various health challenges they are facing. Being a good listener is just as important you should fully hear out all concerns and ask follow-up questions of your patient before arriving at any conclusion.

You need to be able to empathize with your patient without being emotionally overwhelmed yourself. You may have a lot on your mind, and the patient may not be the most pleasant person to be around--perhaps due to stress, pain, confusion, and other issues but it's important that be mentally present while also not allowing let their issues or attitude to affect you emotionally. Your goal should be to relate while still having some walls between you and what the patient is going through. This also helps you make objective decisions while advocating for the patient.

As a nurse, you want to come across as calm, competent, and in control of the situation. Your confidence helps to reassure the patient that all is as it should be. If a situation occurs that is frightening for the patient, they can remain calm, assured that you have it handled on their behalf.it will help to build a rapport with Jaffrey.

2)Communication skills needed for patient-centered care include eliciting the patient’s agenda with open-ended questions, especially early on; not interrupting the patient, and engaging in focused active listening. Understanding the patient’s perspective of the illness and expressing empathy are key features of patient-centered communication. Understanding the patient’s perspective entails exploring the patient’s feelings, ideas, concerns, and experience regarding the impact of the illness, as well as what the patient expects from the physician.

Start discussing the patient’s concerns with open-ended questions Suggested phrases: “Tell me more about…” “Would you like to talk more about it…?” “I want to know how it started…” “Tell me what the… was like?” “What else did you notice?”Ask direct questions to elicit details about the chief concern, and perform a review of systems Questions should address the duration, severity, and location of the problem; radiation and character of pain; relieving and aggravating factors; and any associated symptoms.

3)Ask your patient to be a parrot.

To avoid communication barriers in healthcare, make sure your patient understands everything you have explained. Sure they can listen to you, but you want to know that they have processed that information. Ask the patient to ‘parrot back’ what they do understand. You will be able to uncover what they missed or misinterpreted so you can easily go back over that aspect again for them.

Medical Memory can help you significantly overcome communication challenges.

Be visual.

Did you know that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual? You’ll be astounded by how much better your patient remembers information by using visual prompts or even using your hands. Using visual prompts during the visit will help patients remember more long-term, in turn improving patient compliance with follow up care.

Record each visit.

Using personalized video recordings will bridge the gap in doctor-patient communication without interrupting how healthcare works. Medical Memory will help to breakdown any communication barriers in healthcare, increase compliance, and improve patient satisfaction and recall. In a secure, HIPAA-compliant portal, patients can watch and share their videos, while providers receive increased data on what is critical for succeeding in today’s value-based healthcare environment – increased patient satisfaction, impactful analytics, and increased practice efficiency.

Always use easy-to-understand language.

Medical terminology isn’t easy to understand. When you use clear, simple language and words the patient will understand, it will help patients to trust you and adhere to what was said.