Bedside manner refers to a doctor’s communication and interaction with patients. Good manners include empathy, involving the patient in healthcare decisions, and making them feel comfortable. Poor manners can cause fear or anxiety, leading to non-compliance. Medical schools offer courses to improve empathy, and some doctors are tested with mock patients. The crisis of time for doctors and nurses can also affect bedside manner. Patients are more likely to follow directions from doctors with good manners. It is important to find a doctor whose level of interaction suits one’s personality.
A bedside manner most often refers to the way a physician interacts and communicates with patients. Sometimes the term is only used in a positive way. A doctor with bedside manners is a good communicator, while one without can be offensive or can be overly abrupt with patients. The term can also be described as good or bad.
Good bedside education might include showing empathy, being open to communication, involving the patient in health care decisions, and helping the patient feel comfortable. A pauper can manifest as arrogance, an inability to listen to a patient, brusqueness, a rejection of a patient’s fears, and rudeness.
Concern about how medical professionals interact with their patients has increased in recent years. Many nursing and physician medical schools now offer courses specifically for practicing an empathic approach to patients. In some hospitals, doctors are tested with mock patients who are supposed to test their tolerance. These courses and tests hope to improve the behavior of doctors who are poor communicators and who have little sympathy for patients.
Another problem that is reflected in the way of being at the bedside is the crisis of the time of the modern doctor. Doctors now regularly see many more patients a day than most people did in the past. Therefore, some are abrupt and curt because they don’t have time to listen. This remains a problem because crucial information can be lost when a patient is not given enough time.
The same is true for many nurses who are now caring for more patients in hospital settings than ever before. Where nurses were once expected to be inpatient support, there is often not enough time in the day to provide such support.
Bedside behavior can affect the quality of care a patient receives and also the patient’s compliance in taking recommended medications or following physician’s instructions. Doctors who interact poorly with patients may find that they lose patients to other doctors, or they may find that their patients tend not to listen to their suggestions.
Also, approaching a patient without empathy or sympathy has a tendency to intimidate or cause fear in the patient. A doctor with poor bedside manners can actually cause a patient to feel more pain, if the patient is wracked with fear or anxiety. A positive interaction, on the other hand, can help a patient recover more quickly. Recovery can be related to a positive attitude, which can be facilitated by both doctors and nurses.
Even if they are more time consuming, doctors who make an effort to keep their patients at the bedside are likely to be followed and their directions followed. Despite the bad behavior, some doctors are so good at their job that they are worth seeing even if it means putting up with the rudeness.
A caricatured version of the worst possible sleep can be seen on the popular show House. Dr. House is terribly abusive to his patients every week. Yet his behavior is tolerated because he is a fantastic diagnostician.
There are some watered-down versions of Dr. Houses in real-world settings, and most people remember seeing a doctor with bad bedside manners. Surgeons are frequent targets of such accusations, even if it is an overgeneralization. Some surgeons are great at talking to their patients and helping allay fears about upcoming surgeries. Others aren’t particularly good with patients, but what they lack in communication skills they make up for in OR prowess.
It is helpful to choose a doctor whose level of interaction suits your personality. Just like he won’t like every person he meets, he won’t like every doctor. Finding a doctor with good bedside manners is helpful because you are more likely to feel comfortable talking to your doctor about private health matters, and also, you are more likely to feel comfortable seeing a doctor when needed. A physician who does not communicate well can inadvertently discourage patients from seeking medical advice when they should.
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