Online CPR Certification Blog

Half of this number didn’t even have a clue as to why they had to be admitted in the first place. 67% of the doctors assumed that the patients knew their name while a farther 77% presumptuously thought that the patient took note of their diagnosis after they explained it to them. Alarmingly, 98% of doctors believed that they had already talked with the patients about their fears and anxiety.

There are several reasons for the poor communication which are explained by Dr. Ton Brayer

• Patients having too many consultants
• Consultants, nurses and doctors rarely work in tandem when delivering services
• Patients being stresses thus lacking the capacity to remember anything they are told
• Management which seeks to discharge patients quickly
• Medication that might reduce the brains ability to remember things
• Busy schedule of doctors

There is also the obvious fact that a lot of doctors rarely adhere to cultural differences. There are different stereotypes that will always walk through the hospital doors and into the doctor’s office. They include

• ‘Doctor knows it all type’: they allow the doctors to do with them whatever they please without even asking why
• ‘Don’t talk back to elders’: They won’t refute anything the doctor says basically because they believe that doctors are superior to them.
• ‘Foreign speaking patient’: the patient who doesn’t understand the language the doctor is using and as a result can’t be able to communicate with them.
• ‘Miscalculated gesture type’: those who use their culture in everything thus confusing other. Japanese nodding to show respect while the doctor thinks that they’ve been given consent.

The above are just but a few of the many observations that clearly pointed why there was a gap in communication between doctors and their patient. There are some that are quite unavoidable but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a way of finding solutions.

Giving information to patients

Every single patient should be given all the information they need irrespective of the circumstances. It comes as no surprise that specialized doctors practicing things like surgery will come across many patients who admit to them that their doctors never told them about their condition. It might also be a case where they were told but were too shocked to even remember let alone listen to what the doctor was saying.

Time might not be on the doctor’s side for them to slow down and relay the message. The reason behind this could be due to the fact that other patients are waiting outside to receive care. There is also the high probability that they might have to dash out in the middle of the conversation to attend to an emergency that just came in. That’s the reason why there is the need to refer patients to consultants who will work hand in hand with the doctors and specialist. They will have ample time on their disposal to tell the patient what needs to be said about their case.