Perfect Phrases for Healthcare Professionals: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases

by Bernard Lopez, Masashi Rotte

Overview

THE RIGHT PHRASE FOR EVERY SITUATION . . . EVERY TIME

In the fast-paced environment of healthcare, tense, complicated, and unpredictable interactions are a guarantee. Clear communication is an absolute necessity for resolving workplace conflicts and keeping patients fully educated in what can literally be life or death situations.

Perfect Phrases™ for Healthcare Professionals has hundreds of ready-to-use phrases for clearly communicating with patients, their families, and colleagues. It provides the most effective language to help you:

• Respond to patients’ concerns empathetically and professionally
• Resolve conflicts with colleagues and staff members
• Break bad news with clarity and sensitivity
• Deal with suspected child abuse or other illegal activity
• Disclose medical errors with honesty and tact

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071768337
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	12/16/2011
Series:	Perfect Phrases Series
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Masashi Rotte, M.D., is a physician practicing emergency medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.
Bernard Lopez, M.D., M.S., is the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Counseling and Vice Chair, Academic Affairs, Department of Emergency Medicine at Jefferson Medical College.

Read an Excerpt

PERFECT PHRASES for Healthcare Professionals

Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases

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By Masashi Rotte, Bernard Lopez

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2012The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-176833-7

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Excerpt

<h2>CHAPTER 1</h2> <p><b>Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About Their Care</b></p> <br> <p>People have many different motivations for entering the field of healthcare. These motivations might range from an altruistic drive to help others to a desire to work in a job that is intellectually challenging. Still, we must remember that we are in a service industry—we get paid because we provide services to our patients, and they have a right to expect quality care from us.</p> <p>There are myriad reasons that patients become upset about their care. More often than not, we have provided good care for our patients but factors beyond our control, such as insurance issues, wait times, or unrealistic patient expectations, obscure our hard work.</p> <br> <p><b>Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About Wait Times</b></p> <p>There are many steps in a medical encounter that force patients to wait for things to happen. In a typical outpatient office visit, patients can show up on time for an appointment but not see their provider for over an hour. Furthermore, wait times can vary widely, depending on the location of the office (urban versus suburban, academic medicine versus community medicine) and even the day of the week.</p> <p>Patients can become quickly frustrated if they feel that they are waiting for no good reason. Whenever possible, let patients know upfront how long they should expect to wait and why they are waiting. This communication can be accomplished by something as simple as placing a sign in a waiting area or treatment room with expected wait times for office visits or procedures. If something does go wrong, such as a lab test being misplaced, explain this to the patient, apologize, and do your best to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.</p> <p>Patients can also become angered when they see staff joking with each other, checking e-mail, or making personal phone calls. Patients seeing these behaviors may feel that they are being ignored and being made to wait unnecessarily. If you are on break or need to take care of some personal business, do it away from patient care areas so as to not appear indifferent to patient needs.</p> <p><b>Mr. Smith is a patient who has come to the Emergency Department (ED) with ankle pain after a fall. He is upset and complaining to the nurses and doctors because he has waited three hours to be seen.</b></p> <p>When you enter a room to interview or examine a patient, be sure to introduce yourself and to explain your role in the patient's care. If the patient has other people in the room with him or her, be sure to identify their relationships to the patient.</p> <p>-> Hello. I'm Dr. Gordon. I'm a doctor in the Emergency Department and I'll be responsible for your care here today. [To a woman sitting with the patient.] Are you here with Mr. Smith?</p> <p>Apologize for their wait. If you were the patient, you wouldn't want to wait either.</p> <p>-> I'm very sorry that you had to wait so long to be seen. We have not forgotten about you, but we are very busy today. We always make sure that each patient's problems are fully evaluated, and some problems take longer than others.</p> <p>Acknowledge that you understand that the patient is upset, and then try to address his or her concerns. In addition, if your exam room allows it, sit down when you speak to patients. Studies have shown that when physicians interview their patients while sitting down and at eye level, patients overestimate the amount of time the physician was in the room with them.</p> <p>-> I can see that you are upset about having to wait to be seen. You are right to expect to be treated quickly when you come to our hospital. Here is what I can try to do to get your x-rays done as soon as possible.</p> <p>Emphasize to patients that you will do what is needed to take care of their medical problem.</p> <p>-> I'm here to help you now and I'll spend as much time with you as you need.</p> <p>Try to give patients periodic updates on the status of their care.</p> <p>-> I just spoke with the radiology technician, and she is sending your films to the radiologist right now. We will try to get you out of here as soon as possible.</p> <p><b>Mrs. Lee is waiting to see her dermatologist in the exam room of an outpatient office. She is having a follow-up visit after a skin biopsy. She is mad that her dermatologist hasn't been in to see her yet.</b></p> <p>Letting patients know why they are waiting can often calm them down. If they realize that there are reasonable, or sometimes unavoidable, delays in their care, they may be more accepting of a wait.</p> <p>-> I'm sorry that you have hhad to wait, but let me tell you the things we have been doing while you were waiting. I have reviewed your chart and the blood tests you had since our last visit. We also had too call the pathology lab because they had not sent over your results yet. In addition, my office staff had to contact your insurance company to verify your coveeeerage. We have gotten all those things squared away, so now I'm here to focus on you.</p> <p><b>Mr. Ford recently had a cardiac catheterization for chest pain. His cardiologist sent him to the ED because he has swelling and pain in his groin where the catheter had been inserted into his femoral artery. He needs to have an ultrasound of his groin to make sure that he doesn't have an abscess or pseudoaneurysm. Unfortunately, it's a weekend night, and there is no ultrasound technician available until the morning.</b></p> <p>If there is going to be a delay in some part of the patient's diagnostic or treatment plan, let him or her know about it up front, and explain the reason.</p> <p>-> I just want you to know up front that we won't have an ultrasound technician here to do this test until the morning. I know it's a real hassle for you to have to wait this long, but I think this is a very important test.</p> <p>If we explain the importance of tests or procedures, patients are often more accepting of delays.</p> <p>-> There can be some serious causes of your symptoms, such as clots or damage to blood vessels. I want to make sure that we get the right diagnosis for your pain and swelling. Unfortunately, I can't make any decisions about your treatment plan until I get these test results.</p> <p>Let the patient know what you can get done while he or she is waiting.</p> <p>-> What I can do is call the radiology department so you are first on the list for testing tomorrow. While you are here overnight, we will give you all of the pain medicines you need and monitor you closely.</p> <p><b>Mr. Hurwitz has presented to the Internal Medicine clinic at University Hospital to be evaluated for hypertension. He is complaining to the attending physician because a medical student and then a resident have interviewed and examined him.</b></p> <p>According to t
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Excerpted from PERFECT PHRASES for Healthcare Professionals by Masashi Rotte. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About Their Care
Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About Wait Times
Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About Your Diagnostic or Treatment Plans
Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About  Outcomes of Their Care
Perfect Phrases for Patients Upset About Hospitalization
Perfect Phrases for Patients Overwhelmed by the Number of Practitioners They Have Seen
Perfect Phrases for Issues Related to the Care of Pediatric Patients

Chapter 2 Perfect Phrases for Patients Suffering from a Medical Error
Why Should Medical Errors Be Disclosed?
What Are the Risks and Benefits of Error Disclosure?
Which Medical Errors Should Be Disclosed?
How Should a Medical Error Be Disclosed?
Preventing Errors in the First Place
Perfect Phrases for Examples of Error Disclosure
Effect of Error on the Healthcare Professional

Chapter 3 Perfect Phrases for Patients Wanting Medically Unnecessary Prescriptions or Tests
Perfect Phrases for Patients Requesting Unnecessary  or Inappropriate Medications
Perfect Phrases for Patients Requesting Medications with the Potential for Abuse
Perfect Phrases for Parents Requesting Tests  for Minors: Ethical Issues
Perfect Phrases for Patients Requesting  Specific Treatments

Chapter 4 Perfect Phrases for Breaking Bad News to Patients and Their Families
Perfect Phrases for Breaking News of an Unfavorable Diagnosis
Perfect Phrases for Breaking News of Death
Perfect Phrases for Breaking Bad News About Pediatric Patients

Chapter 5 Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Suspected Child Abuse, Elder Abuse, or Intimate Partner Violence
Perfect Phrases for Suspected Child Abuse
Perfect Phrases for Suspected Elder Abuse
Perfect Phrases for Suspected Sexual Violence and Intimate Partner Violence
For More Information

Chapter 6 Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult Colleagues
Perfect Phrases for Conflicts Among Healthcare Professionals at the Same Level
Perfect Phrases for Conflicts Among Healthcare Professionals at Different Levels

Chapter 7 Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult Administrative Staff
Perfect Phrases for Administrators Upset About Delays in Patient Care
Perfect Phrases for Administrators Wanting Special Treatment for Certain Patients
Perfect Phrases for Conflicts with Administrators over Allocation of Resources