After performing the usual subjective and objective assessments on a patient with pleural effusion complicated with pneumothorax, I was in preparation to ambulate the patient when she blurted out, “What is a shadow (on CXR)?” So I explained the possible interpretation of a shadow, which could have either been a tumour, fluid or foreign particles in the lung where x-rays were unable to penetrate.
Shortly after, she began to cry as she expressed her concern for her recent CXR result (which at that moment hadn’t yet confirmed her diagnosis). She further stated that she recently lost a good friend who died of a lung cancer, and was afraid she was to follow. I was speechless. Although I sympathised with her, I wasn’t able to empathise her feelings as I hadn’t experienced such an encounter.
However, I decided to take a moment of my schedule for the day to listen and allow her to express her emotions, as well as to provide some reassurance. I realised it was crucial that someone paid a listening ear so that she wouldn’t end up bottling up her feelings, which could pose detrimental effects on her health.
After that incident, the patient became more compliant with ambulation and other interventions. I learned that rapport with patient can be built with a step as simple as taking the time to listen.
2 comments:
I agree, if we take a bit of extra time and build a good rapport with our pts they are more likely to cooperate with us in the future and therefore future treatment sessions run more smoothly
Yes I agree too. Sometimes we just get so into our subjective questions that we forget to try to connect with the patient on the appropriate level for us to build rapport with them. I believe we should make the first impression that we really care about them and it is in our best intentions to help them with their conditions. This way they will open up to us more and it will help us in providing the best care for our patients.
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