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It can be very awkward to have to communicate to a patient that you aren’t sure about something. Many patients view doctors as superhuman, incapable of making mistakes. As much as I wish that were true, practitioners know that this is a big patient misconception. We, in fact, are human and can’t possibly know every pertinent detail on every ocular condition that presents itself in our practices. What do we do in these instances when we simply don’t have a direct answer for our patient because we don’t know? |
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As a new practitioner, this situation presents itself as particularly challenging for a number of reasons. For starters, many patients may question the competency of a practitioner when they appear to be young. Some patients may equate “youth” with “inexperienced.” On the other hand, some patients equate “youth” with being “technologically savvy and abreast with new ideas and treatment regimens.” Regardless of how the patient perceives you, communicating to the patient that you don’t have an answer for them can be particularly nerve-racking. More importantly, how you carry yourself in these circumstances can have a strong impact on your patient’s perception of your professional judgment and how much they are willing to place their trust in your decision making and clinical expertise. |
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| We Want to Hear From
You!
new O.D.s, what’s on your mind? Please send us your
comments, questions and column ideas. We’ll include them in
upcoming editions of the newsletter. Please e-mail us at response@newod.com |
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Speaking From Experience
I remember the first time I felt backed into a corner by a patient because I didn’t have an answer for them. If I had it to do all over again, I would have communicated with that patient very differently. My biggest regret with this particular patient was sensing that I lost the patient’s trust and confidence in my professional decision-making. Reflecting back, I could have handled that situation so much differently had I been better prepared. As a result, I decided to take action to prevent that situation from repeating itself. Fortunately for me, I was proactive and took several steps to ensure that I would be better prepared to handle this scenario in the event that it reoccurred. My preparations proved very useful since this type of patient encounter has repeated itself on several occasions and presented itself in several ways throughout my five years of practice.
Be Proactive
The best defense is a really good offense. This cliché certainly rings true to the challenge of not having an answer for the patient. As a result, I challenge you to give serious consideration to how you will handle the scenario of not having a definite answer for a patient. Have you given any thought to what you will say to your patient when you don’t know the answer? How will you act? What strategy will you have in place to handle the situation to the very best of your abilities? At the end of the day, I also challenge each of you to reflect on all of your patient encounters and think about which encounters went really well and which ones offered opportunities for improvement. More importantly, I encourage each of you to be proactive and think through some of the communication challenges that you may encounter in practice before they occur.
You’re Invited!
At this time, I invite each of you to listen to the podcast where I will discuss some of the successful strategies that I have implemented into my practice regarding communication challenges, specifically telling the patient “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure”. Enjoy!
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Starting Strategies
Two very important characteristics that
references should have are portability and ease
of use. Unfortunately, there are a number of
excellent textbooks with fantastic information
and pictures that have a lousy index or glossary
making it difficult to find information quickly.
Be sure to seek out references that will enable
you to find answers to your questions in an
efficient manner. Portability is an important
characteristic if you are working at several
locations. This way, you can transport your
valuable references with ease from one location
to another. Make sure you have references on
hand that fulfill these two characteristics.. -
Kelly Kerksick, OD
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