As a healthcare professional, I tend to get in my groove when I am in clinic with a strong focus on patient care and effective communication. I forget at times however frustrating it can be for patients, loved ones and caregivers when there is a complete lack of communication.
Today my husband and I experienced a very frustrating situation due to ineffective communication while at a specialist office visit and outpatient surgery center with my husband. He saw the specialist, and I listened attentively for the assessment and plan. All was good. My husband and I were sent to check out clerk to schedule appointment for his outpatient surgical procedure. The clerk provided he and I with brief directions for a short walk to the outpatient surgery center around the corner to schedule his procedure. Problem….he and I were NOT told that we would need to allow 40 minutes to “schedule” appointment for the procedure. After the brief walk over to the surgery center, a receptionist “tosses” over a clip board with a stack of forms to complete. She failed to explain that all of this “paperwork” had to be completed before meeting with another clerk who would enter in the information into the electronic health record then pass us off to the final person for scheduling the appointment.
A great lesson learned today (other than to avoid the particular surgery center in the future) for myself is to slow down and make sure that I am providing clear and effective communication with patients.
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