Bedside manner is the way a nurse or healthcare professional communicates with their patients, including both verbal and nonverbal communication. The quality of provider-to-patient interactions can have a huge impact on a patient’s experience. In fact, a provider’s bedside manner can influence everything from pain perception to the recovery experience. As a result, training specific to bedside manner has become an increasingly important aspect of patient care.
Research shows that when healthcare professionals take the time and effort to show their patients a good bedside manner, they fare better in managing chronic diseases such as diabetes or high cholesterol.
In a study from Healthgrades and Medical Group Management Association, seven million patient reviews and comments were analyzed. Researchers found that “over 52 percent [of patients] stated they wanted their [provider] to have at least one of the following qualities: compassion, comfort, patience, personality, and bedside manner.”
Patients receiving care are often in an extremely vulnerable position, and the bedside manner of nurses and doctors can completely transform their experience. Healthcare professionals are not only expected to focus on effective care but also make a sincere effort to know their patients’ names and build connections with them.
Most healthcare professionals have a good grasp of their bedside manner’s role in the patient experience. But, if they feel they’re lacking, the qualities of effective bedside manner can be learned through practicing some common sense techniques that have been taught since childhood: kindness and empathy. After all, a nurse or provider can never fully know what a patient needs until they’ve truly listened.
So, how can professionals develop the skills to offer the best bedside manner?
How To Improve Bedside Manner
These tips will help improve any nurse or healthcare professional’s bedside manner and patient interactions.
Active Listening Skills
The single most important aspect of good bedside manner is taking the time to listen to each patient. Interacting with patients using active listening skills will accomplish several things at once.
- Active listening establishes a comfort level with patients because they truly feel they are being listened to in a vulnerable time.
- Active listening allows providers to glean more information from the patient that will be helpful in treatment.
- Active listening helps patients feel heard and can give them a more positive outlook on their situation.
Non-Verbal Active Listening
When listening to a patient and engaging with them, a professional’s body language should be consistent with their verbal actions. These non-verbal active listening techniques solidify patient-provider relationships.
One simple but key technique is to maintain eye contact with every patient. Doing this can be difficult while attending to the tasks required during a patient interaction, but providers need to make it a point to meet every patient’s eyes as often as possible.
Additionally, facial expressions can often say more to patients than words. Smiling when meeting them and showing empathy when appropriate will “tell” patients that they are cared about. Even being cognizant of “smiling with the eyes” while wearing a mask can help accomplish this gesture.
Finally, another great technique for displaying genuine interest is to appropriately lean in toward a patient with an open posture as they are speaking.
Communication
In addition to listening to patients, nursing professionals need to consider how they speak to patients. Relationships are two-way experiences, and keeping the interaction simple will accomplish more. The goal is to help patients feel comfortable, not to impress them with how much healthcare knowledge you have.
When listening to patients speak, providers can form a sense of the patient’s level of understanding and tailor their language accordingly. Use approachable terms and straightforward language when possible to help patients best understand what’s happening without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated by medical jargon.
Attention to Detail
Pay sincere attention to the details. In a hospital setting, take a moment to straighten up the bedside table, or ask a patient if they need more ice, even if other staff would normally take care of those tasks.
These little actions can truly make a difference. Details like opening or closing the blinds for them or helping them with some other environmental comfort factor may seem small, but these details mean mountains to a person who is tired, upset, or worried. A patient can develop greater trust when they sense their provider is aware of, and concerned with, their overall experience.
Memory
Another clear way to show compassion and respect for patients is to commit a patient’s personal situation to memory.
- Did they share something about their children?
- Was this appointment made before or after a big trip?
- Did they just get married or go through a major life change?
Working to commit at least one significant detail to memory will help the patient feel like a person and not an appointment.
Treat the Person, Not the Patient
Many healthcare professionals are naturally gifted at establishing relationships with their patients, but others have to make a conscious effort to work at it. Establishing a sincere bedside manner comes down to this simple but powerful message:
Providers will have the best bedside manner if they imagine that each patient they are caring for is their parent, child, or family member. Not everyone can make that leap when considering the needs of their patient, but those who can have an entirely different perspective on the human side of medicine. Patients will feel that shift in perspective as well.
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