Thread by @PamelaKunzMD

I spent many hours last week observing the practice of medicine while sitting at my mom’s hospital bedside and was reminded of some important communication pearls. Some musings…
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1. Introduce yourself by full name, role and team and have ID badges visible. It can get very confusing for pts and family members with the number of people in and out of rooms.
e.g. "My name is Dr. X. I'm the intern on the primary internal medicine team.”

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2. End your patient visit with a summary of the plan for the day.
3. Avoid medical jargon & speak slowly, clearly, and logically. Remember you are a teacher for your pts and their family.

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4. Masks make it harder to hear especially for pts with hearing loss (and they no longer have the aid of lip reading).
5. Many older pts get confused in the hospital. Repetition is a good thing.
6. Speak to a family member at least once per day to relay the plan.

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7. Try to avoid last minute or surprise discharges – they make pts and family members anxious. Talk about discharge planning from day 1 and what milestones must occur prior to a safe discharge.
“In order for you to leave the hospital, X, Y, X must happen.”

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8. Talk with your pts about something other than what brought them to the hospital (a tip I once learned from a wise mentor @ADColevasMD). Patients are more than their disease.

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9. When possible, sit at eye level with your patient (I love these stools from @YNHH).
10. Take time to listen.

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11. Lastly, treat your patients how you would want your own family member treated.
#MedTwitter #ArtofMedicine #WordsMatter
@tmprowell @marklewismd @tarasanftmd @l_schapira

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