subject: The Importance of a Good Bedside Manner [print this page] It is indeed necessary for us to do well in their professions. At times however, only being adept at our jobs is apparently not enough. Several other aspects must also be taken into account with regards to maintaining the good quality of our professions.
One of the aspects that must be considered is our relationships with the other people in the workplace. Maintaining good relationships with our superiors, co-workers and clients without doubt lessens the possibility of our jobs going down the drain. In the medical world, physician-patient relationship is one of the aspects that is being given importance. In some medical schools even, students are being made to practice with mock patients to test and train their attitude towards patients. This attitude towards patients is called bedside manners.
Bedside Manner Defined
Bedside manners refer to the approach of doctors and nurses in communicating with patients. Having a good bedside manner involves building rapport, listening, and doing other acts that simply express respect and compassion towards patients. It may also involve being able to inform patients and their loved ones in the best way of the current condition or situation. Patients are already under a lot of stress and in a lot of pain, and doctors and nurses providing an optimistic vibe may definitely help provide a big relief. Moreover, bedside manners are said to be one of the deciding factors of patients as to whether or not they would want to follow the instructions or suggestions of their physician. Most importantly, a good bedside manner is found to help a patient recover more quickly.
Good Communication is Key
Between 1992 and 1993, 3,424 physicians took the Medical Council of Canada clinical-skills examination. The said exam required the doctors to interact with mock patients in a series of standardized scenarios. They are then judged by trained physician evaluators on how well they can take patient histories, make diagn
oses, manage treatment and communicate with the patients. The physicians who took the exam were then tracked by researchers from McGill University from 1993 to1996. The researchers found a correlation between the doctors' scores in the communication-related portions of the exam and the number of their patient complaints. The doctors who got low scores on the communications portion are found to have 70% more legitimate complaints per year of practice than those who got higher scores. This just shows that effective and good communication with patients goes a long way.
With the several patients that need attending to, it is not at all an easy task for doctors and nurses to be able to give undivided attention to each of their patients. Nonetheless, good communication and showing empathy as simple as making eye contact or touching a child's hand may just already make huge changes.
A Win-Win Situation
For doctors and nurses, it is not enough then to be good only at treating patients by only applying their expertise in the field and effectively handling medical equipments. Having a good bedside manner will add more comfort and relief to a patient under treatment. A good bedside manner will also benefit both parties--the patient and the medical practitioner--as this would not only give good to the patient, but definitely increase the quality of the profession of medical practitioners as well.
