5 Tips for Exceptional Patient Care

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Whether you’re a physician or a nurses aid, you chose a career as a healthcare professional to make a positive difference in people’s lives. As a result, the ability and desire to provide exceptional patient care probably comes naturally to you.

However, we all have days when it is difficult to provide exceptional patient care. Days when we must dig a little deeper and try a little harder.

To that end, we’ve compiled the following five tips to help you build stronger relationships with your patients. When implemented, these suggestions can help improve patient satisfaction and outcomes.

1. Communicate: As medical professionals, we often forget how confusing medical terminology is for the everyday person. On top of that, when people aren’t feeling well, they don’t always hear or interpret information correctly. For that reason, it is important that you speak to your patient in terms they understand. For example, instead of telling your patient they’re hypertensive and tachycardic, let them know they have high blood pleasure and a fast pulse. Additionally, be sure to give your patient time to ask questions about their diagnosis and treatment plan. Doing so will help ensure the best possible outcome.

2. Provide Patient-Centered Care: Like the name suggests, patient-centered care is “about treating a person receiving healthcare with dignity and respect and involving them in all decisions about their health” (Better Health Channel). It also means taking the patient’s preferences and anxieties into account when providing care and treating the whole person (physically, mentally and emotionally). Healthcare professionals that provide patient-centered care advocate for their patients. They make sure those under their care have the knowledge and resources needed to succeed on their own. In essence, patient-centered care is a true partnership between the individual and their healthcare provider.

In essence, patient-centered care is a true partnership between the individual and their healthcare provider.

3. Build Personal Relationships: Most patients want to feel that their healthcare provider really knows them. So how do you build a personal (but still professional) relationship with your patients? For starters, take the time to get to know your patient as an individual. Ask questions about their family, hobbies and interests. Don’t treat them as a condition or diagnosis. It also helps to thoroughly review the patient’s chart prior to your interactions. Ask them specific follow-up questions. Finally, take the time to really listen and understand what the patient is trying to tell you. Your willingness to provide helpful guidance can create an atmosphere of exceptional patient care.

4. Give Compassionate Care: “Compassionate care…isn’t just about taking away another person’s pain or suffering; it’s about entering another person’s experience so as to share their burden in solidarity with them; hence enabling them to retain their independence and dignity” (Scrubs Magazine). So, how do you provide compassionate care? You start by listening to your patients and imagining how you would feel in their position. You challenge your own prejudices and preconceived notions of the patient and seek to find common ground. You use positive gestures and nonverbal cues that reaffirm the patient is being heard. Finally, you ask for feedback.

5. Offer Encouragement: You’ve been there before. You’ve had a bad day. You feel overwhelmed and stressed. You’re tired of fighting “the good fight” and you want to give up. Chances are this is the way your patients are feeling. After all, if they were 100% healthy and feeling great, they wouldn’t need your services. In addition to your knowledge and skills, your words have healing powers. Let your patients know that things will get better, that they are not alone and that they have the strength to do hard things. A few words of encouragement can make all the difference in a patient’s healthcare journey.

In addition to your knowledge and skills, your words have healing powers. Let your patients know that things will get better, that they are not alone and that they have the strength to do hard things.

When you take the time to practice and implement these skills, you can be sure that you’re providing exceptional patient care. Your patients will be grateful and you’ll feel good about the positive difference you’ve made in their lives.

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Explore additional resources from Premier Medical Staffing Services:

4 Ways Nurses Can Advocate for Patients
7 Ways to Build Patient Rapport
Compassion Fatigue & Nurses
How to Rediscover Your Passion for Nursing
Self-Care for Nurses

Last Modified: [last-modified] by Katy Konkel