Patience is a notoriously difficult skill to master. When you work in healthcare, your patience is constantly tested, a lesson I learned repeatedly when I was a physician assistant at a large orthopedic surgery practice. Whether it's taking the time to re-explain instructions to a patient when I know I'm late to the clinic, waiting on hold at another doctor's office to get relevant information regarding a mutual patient, or helping an elderly patient complete new paperwork for a new patient. intimidating recording tablets, patience is a regular part of my day.
Helen (not her real name) is a patient who has taught me many lessons about patience. She called our office to speak with me personally every day, often several times a day, for three months straight. During this time, I spoke to Helen more often than to my family or closest friends. Often she would call me to ask questions which I answered verbally and in writing on several occasions, while other times she seemed to just want to chat. Each day, I mentally prepared myself for our daily conversation, then calmly reviewed her many questions and concerns with her. Helen forced me to be creative, constantly finding new ways to explain her instructions and protocols to help her understand better. She inspired me to create new documents with patient instructions and to rework already written documents to increase clarity and reduce patient confusion. These new materials, my improved patient communication skills, and my increased patience have and will continue to benefit countless patients after Helen.
As frustrating as working directly with patients can sometimes be, working with other healthcare settings can be even more difficult. In my current role, I frequently have to communicate with other specialists and primary care physicians with pre-operative patient questions and the rehabilitation facilities that care for our post-operative elderly patients. Communicating with other healthcare entities typically involves a series of transfers and call waiting, which hopefully results in connecting with the right person. We all know that when we're busy, waiting on hold can test your patience. This is heightened when trying to communicate urgent information or multitasking while making patient-to-patient phone calls in a busy clinic. From these experiences, I learned the importance of clear, concise, and specific communication to promote the best patient outcomes and reduce the need for more clarifying conversations. I also learned the importance of detailed and explicit documentation to ensure that the conversation can be referenced in the future by myself or anyone else who may receive a follow-up call and to reduce the need for rehashing the entire chain of communication on the part of the doctor. towards myself, towards the establishment, towards the patient.
As the field of health care becomes more complex, with constant pressure to increase efficiency, we owe each other and our patients our patience and grace. I know that my ability to be patient with patients not only improves their visit experience, but also their health outcomes. It makes me feel like I'm making a real difference and inspires me to constantly strive to be as understanding, kind and patient with patients as possible.
Natalie Enyedi is a pre-med student.