PATIENCE FOR PATIENTS

 

 

It’s not always easy to find comfort when you are ill, whether you are at home, in the doctor’s office or in the hospital.  First of all, it takes the ability to cope with your condition and be aware of what you are feeling.  As long as you are fully conscious, you are the only one capable to communicate what is wrong.  A caring person, be it your loved one, physician, dentist, nurse, therapist, or even a friend can’t do much for you unless you are alert and willing to share what’s bothering you.  Regardless of the professional skill a caring person has, each one has to have personality attributes such as patience, ability to listen, build trust, show empathy and encouragement.  Those qualities are critical for helping a person.

 Medical care is facing challenging conditions today more than years ago.  In some areas, hospitals are understaffed which makes it difficult to provide adequate nursing care.  Doctors, who are in public or private practice, have heavy caseloads.  There have been tremendous advances in medical science; however, accountability for medical services has become computerized.  It appears that more and more doctors are finding less time to talk with their patients.  When the patient goes for an office visit, the doctor does give a thorough examination but less time to relate with the patient because the doctor has to spend time typing into the computer medical data on the patient in compliance for insurance coverage.  At the time of a patient’s visit, the patient often sits there waiting for him to complete inputting data into the computer.  The good old days of the patient relationship with the doctor is much shorter.  Oh yes, often the doctor’s bedside manner still exists but, the time is brief.  Also, the doctor has other patients waiting to be seen. So, patience for the patient is often kind but limited.  There are a few doctors who manage to massage the environment by using a (PA) Physician’s Assistant.  But, doing so can disappoint the patient because the (PA) is not the equivalent of a doctor.  But the (PA) serves a legitimate role to alleviate the load of the physician in attending to a patient as an assistant to the doctor. This assistance may be unsettling for a patient.

Yes, times have changed.  As a matter of fact, a doctor’s home visit is rare and in the past.  Although, there are doctors who will take the time to make a phone call to the patient as a follow up to find out how one is recuperating.

Patience is a virtue.