New (Old) Tool Teaches Doctors “Bedside Manners”

New (Old) Tool Teaches Doctors “Bedside Manners”

Science Based Tool Teaches Medical Professionals to Treat You, as a Person, Better

Everyone knows that a relaxed patient is easier to treat and heals better. Yet, what is being done to improve "bedside manner" of the medical staff? What tools are there to assist medical professionals to treat you better? 

It is difficult for medical professionals to evaluate their own bedside manner, since they are taught to detach from their patients. In addition, most medical practices are scientifically based. Anything not scientific, like emotions, are not considered. As a result, many patients feel like "objects" rather than "people". 

Patients are not all scientifically based, like objects. People have an emotional side or component, which is frequently not considered. This emotional side of patients is troubling to most doctors, since it gets in the way of their scientific approach. 

Whether the medical community, and even some patients, likes it or not, there is a mind-body connection. The mind responds to a doctor's bedside manner, which then determines the effectiveness of treatments given to the body by the medical staff. 

Most healthcare professionals want to do a good job and consider you as a person, yet they might not have the right skills or tools to help them learn these "people skills". 

Up to now, no "tools" have been considered to assist doctor and nurses in improving their bedside manner.

 

There seems to be a need for an "emotional stress indicator" on the patient, as evidenced by some practitioners now measuring the emotional stress and pain levels of patients. 

Sometimes, pain and emotional stress are considered the fifth and sixth vital signs. From this added information, the practitioner can make a better diagnosis and treatment plan. Are your doctors doing this?

 

As a solution, might we consider the "stress monitors" that have been available for some time, even to the public. These devices usually involve the well-known biofeedback techniques and measure skin conductance, i.e. perspiration. Some of these have a visual indicator, such as a light, which indicates stress. Usually, green means relaxed, yellow means stress is beginning, and red means severe stress. 

Perhaps the patient could wear a stress monitor as part of the ongoing treatment plan.

• The patient could be taught general relaxation techniques to improve their health generally. This might be particularly valuable when difficult medical treatments are being administered. The patient thus helps themselves, if they so want to. This makes them a part of the medical team and gives them a sense of control, which is very important in healing.
• When the patient is in the hospital or clinic, the healthcare professionals could view the color of the stress indicator frequently. By observing the indicator color, the doctor or nurse could then determine whether they are helping or hurting the patient. Generally, the practitioner should adjust their words, body language, or actions to maintain patient relaxation, as much as possible.

Takeaways:

• Healthcare professionals should consider emotional stress and/or pain as vital signs.
• Stress monitors do exist already. These monitors could be used to determine a patient's emotional stress and pain levels.
• Patients can use a stress monitor to help themselves relax and heal on an ongoing basis.
• Practitioners can also use the patient's monitor to improve their overall techniques, especially their bedside manner.

For more information:

• Bedside Manner
• Can Better Bedside Manner Be Taught?
• Bedside Manner: Concept Analysis and Impact on Advanced Nursing Practice
• Patient-Physician Communication: Why and How
• Bedside Manners: One Doctor's Reflections on the Oddly Intimate Encounters Between Patient and Healer by David Watts, M.D., Random House Digital, Inc., 2006
• Listening to Patients: A Phenomenological Approach to Nursing Research and Practice by Sandra P. Thomas, PhD, RN, FAAN, et al., Springer Publishing Company, 2004
• Good Internet search string for locating "Emotional Stress Monitors" - (emotion OR emotional) (stress OR distress) (monitor OR indicator OR device OR biofeedback)
• As a Healthcare Professional, Are You Checking All the Vital Signs to Evaluate Total Patient Condition?
• Medical Monitor with an Emotional Stress Indicator - an Idea Ahead of Its Time

Disclaimer - Article is for informational use only and is not medical advice.