Brandon Oto has written a fine post, Missing your manners, about the importance of introducing yourself to your patient with a simple, “Hi my name is Greg. I am a paramedic. Can I help?” Go read Brandon’s post.
Good morning Doctor
Not long ago I had an appointment with a new cardiologist to discuss my special heart. I had not met him before and I was accompanied by my wife, a registered nurse who spent 9 years working in the emergency department. The physician walked in the door, sat down, looked at the recently acquired 12-Lead ECG, flipped through my chart, and began to describe the findings of the 12 lead.
I barely heard him because I was still waiting for the, “Hi my name is Dr. So and So. How are you today? Is this your wife/interpreter/lawyer/reality television crew that is with you today?”
While I was puzzling over his missing manners he dropped this gem on us, “You aorta is a blood vessel that is really big. Blood pumped out of the heart goes through the aorta. Then it goes to the body.”
He also carefully explained that the heart has electricity and that electricity is shown on the 12 lead. I sure appreciated the cardiac anatomy and physiology 101 review.
If he had asked a couple of questions he might have learned that we had knowledge somewhere between board certified cardiologist and a complete moron. Instead he chose to speak to us as we had dropped out of school after middle school biology.
Build Some Rapport
Steve Whitehead frequently talks about building rapport with patients. A greeting, stating your name, and asking a simple question should be part of every patient interaction. Make it a habit.
Post updated to correctly spell Brandon’s name.
