"In a recent study, Johns Hopkins researchers followed two groups of medical interns for a month and found they sat down at the bedside only 9 percent of the time.
Sitting down, which would seem like one of the simplest things to do, is the least practiced of five communication skills for doctors that Lenore would have endorsed and that research has shown can make a big difference in patient satisfaction."
I smiled when I read this. One: it harkens back to the thesis I wrote in undergrad about how important body language can be in patient-doctor communication. Two: I am the laziest person I know.
I will sit on anything. I have, on occasion, left a patient's room to grab a chair so I could sit down while talking to them. Standing? I don't have time for that. If I get five minutes off my feet, I am going to take those five minutes.
A lot of the times I feel like I get lucky a lot when I'm interacting with patients. I've had very few bad patient encounters, and a lot of times I get patients personally thanking me for being so kind. I wonder how much of this has to do with me being "lazy", not trying to be overly professional.
Anyway, you can read the rest of the article "5 Simple Habits Can Help Doctors Connect with Patients" at http://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=261398048
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