Have you ever considered ways to build rapport with your patients? Good rapport creates a close and harmonious relationship with patients. It allows you to understand your patient's feelings and communicate well with them. The importance of rapport can’t be stressed enough in nursing. It connects you to your patients and can improve patient care. Because of that, nurses must seek ways to build rapport with each patient. However, rapport is not a “one-size-fits-all” tool. You can build rapport using the patient's communication preferences and current health situation. Unfortunately, there is no class on how to build rapport with patients. Rapport is a skill only learned through practice. It may also come easier with some patients than with others. That said, you should attempt to build rapport even if the nurse-patient relationship is short. [CHECK OUT all the high-pay, short-term travel nursing jobs from NurseChoice.] 7 Ways To Build Rapport With Patients1. Maintain Eye Contact Maintaining eye contact communicates care and compassion. It can also show empathy and interest in your patient’s situation. Eye contact and social touch connect you to your patients and communicates understanding. 2. Show Empathy Empathy is the ability to understand the patient’s situation, perspective, and feelings. It allows you to deliver more personalized patient care. The empathetic nurse communicates and acts on their understanding of the patient. 3. Open Communication One study found good communication to be a key factor in improving patient outcomes. Understanding your patient’s communication preferences and state of mind will help build rapport. Informing your patient of new orders or changes in their condition is one way to do this. Encouraging your patient to share their feelings with you is another. Open communication is one of the essential nurse communication skills needed for success. 4. Make it Personal Being a patient can be scary. To help ease their stay, take the time to get to know your patients. Ask about their friends and family, hobbies, and other important aspects of their life. This communicates your desire to understand them as a person, not only as a patient. This is an easy way to learn how to build rapport with your patients. 5. Active Listening Active listening is an essential holistic healthcare tool. It is a non-intrusive way of sharing a patient’s thoughts and feelings. To practice active listening, follow these steps:
The goal of active listening is to reflect the feeling or intent behind their words. It would help if you listened to understand, not to respond. Practice active listening as one of several ways to build rapport. 6. Practice Mirroring Matching the patient’s demeanor, disposition, and rhythm quickly establishes rapport. This may even mean raising your voice to match a loud patient to create a synchronized bond. Then, with a low voice and measured movements, lead the patient to a better place. Use mirroring to become attuned to the patient during difficult conversations. 7. Keep Your Word Keeping your word is one of the most effective ways to build rapport with patients. If you tell them you will do something, do it. If your ability to complete a task changes, communicate this with the patient. Don’t over-promise and under-deliver. Keeping your word with patients not only builds rapport it also builds trust. There isn’t a manual on how to build rapport with patients. Some techniques will come easier to you than others. Practice each of these 7 ways to build rapport and choose the ones that come most naturally to you in your daily practice.
Listening is an important skill for family physicians. It can help improve your diagnosis of patients’ problems, it can help you understand the psychosocial issues affecting their health, and it may even help you avoid a lawsuit.1 However, listening is a learned behavior. It is not a passive activity but one that requires skill and practice. Here are five ways to improve your listening during face-to-face patient encounters.
1. Concentrate on the person speaking. Be sure that you are close enough to – and looking at – the patient to observe his or her facial expressions. Facial expressions, gestures and posture all convey the patient’s thoughts, so pay attention to them. Remember that most communication is nonverbal.2
In addition, make eye contact. Without staring, look at the person long enough to notice the color of his or her eyes. Even when it’s your turn to speak, you can continue to listen with your eyes. If you realize by the patient’s facial expression that you have said something incorrect or worrisome, correct yourself or ask the patient about his or her reaction.
2. Avoid trying to think of an answer. It has been estimated that physicians interrupt patients within 23 seconds as they try to explain their problems.3 Be conscious of this. When a patient is speaking, focus on what he or she is saying rather than on what you are going to say next. Even if you disagree with the patient, try to keep an open mind and allow the patient to finish his or her thoughts before you jump in.
3. Eliminate distractions. Time constraints and pressures are often unavoidable, but they should not compromise your care. When a patient is speaking, do not read a chart or accept a telephone call. If your staff is dedicated, enlist their help in limiting such distractions during face-to-face encounters. For example, if the chart and exam room are well organized before you enter, you won’t have to search for information or supplies when you should be listening to the patient.
4. Be respectful. You and your patient have the same objective: to find a solution to the patient’s problem. You are not on opposing sides, with the other party at fault. Without judging, listen to identify the patient’s agenda or imminent need. It is possible that this person believes no one cares about him or her, so listen with a sense of caring. (The best way to do this is to really care.) Develop a friendly rapport with the patient and validate his or her concerns, as this will help the patient to be more open and trusting.
5. Pay attention to vocal inflections. The tone of a person’s voice can often tell you more than his or her words. It may suggest that the person struggles with anger or depression, or it may point to a physical problem.
In some cases, you may need to get past the person’s tone of voice in order to listen effectively. For example, based on the tone of voice, you may be tempted to dismiss a patient as a complainer. Before you do that, listen and make sure there are no legitimate issues you need to address.
As a medical student, you learned anatomy. As a resident, you learned how to diagnose problems. Now, as a physician, you can learn to listen better.
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Which of the following is a good practice when listening to patients?
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