I round at the bedside and also do most of my teaching in the patient rooms drawing on the window with a dry erase marker.
I get A LOT of compliments from patients about
- showing them how we think about problems
- how smart the team member are
Patient like to see how hard we work to solve their problems and also how much of their story and details we keep in our heads each day.
I can only recall once in 10 years when a patient asked us not to teach and discuss in the room. It was last week!
He said, “Will you stop talking and fix my problem??”
A few days later we were drawing on his window and he said “Am I your favorite patient?”
I had to be honest that we teach and learn in every patient room just the same.
Patients like to Google the words we write on the window and compare internet anatomy pictures to the ones I draw.
They also love when the team makes predictions (tomorrow’s platelets in ITP on IVIG) and often like to make their own guess.
Through the years I have worked in hospitals with 2 and 4-person rooms. Roommates love to call out answers to my questions. They get full credit if correct!
I bring a paper towel with me and if people want their view back, I erase the days lesson. Many times they say “no I want to take a picture and show my son” or whatever.
Even if the patient doesn’t speak English, it’s easy to show you are concerned and are working together collegiality to solve problems. That’s is easily conveyed with body language and a supportive tone and praise.
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I see a fair number of doctors every year because, you know, chronic illness.
About half the time, they have residents or students with them.
I enjoy being a part of their education and training because that also happens to be my job. 🤓🤓🤓 1/12
I also understand how things are made.
When I eat a salad, I know human beings cut those greens in a field. Food doesn’t walk to my store. It’s grown and harvested by people. Then washed, shipped & handled by others.
I respect the people involved in the things I consume. 2/12
The people that make and do and grow things for me to consume are human beings.
They are not printed in a factory and they aren’t grown in a lab. 3/12
If a patient is having trouble getting along with staff in the hospital I sometimes take the time to teach them how to get the best care possible in the hospital. 1/
First you get to know the names of all the people taking care of you. 2/
Understand while they are here doing their job and treat you with courtesy and respect they are also human beings who appreciate being treated with courtesy and respect. 3/
Somewhere in the last few months I unfollowed or blocked the lynchpin of social media crazy and now they’ve all gone away.
The antivaxxers, flat earth, fluoride is poison, 5G, COVID’s a hoax. All of them. Gone. All I see day after day is normal, logical, scientific opinions.
I wish I knew how I closed the wormhole to Tinfoil Hatland. It’s become so pleasant here where reliable people depend on other reliable people to render reliable opinions.
Alternatively, maybe I silence the people who are full on 🍌🍌🍌 so fast and so effortlessly that I just keep screening them right out of my sphere of attention. 🤔🤔🤔