15 Seconds

I've become a big fan of Boston Med. Granted, I'm just kinda nerdy about medical stuff, anyway, but it also gives me fodder for this blog and for my patient care keynotes.

The last episode I caught showed a surgeon in pre-op with his patient. He spoke to the patient, explained what he'd be doing and what the patient could expect. When the camera cut away to a quick interview segment, he said something really profound (I'm paraphrasing here):

"Before a patient goes into surgery, you have about 15 seconds to make them comfortable. Because we (surgeons) do this kind of thing every day, we get accustomed to it. What we forget is that it's traumatic for a patient to know they're going to be cut on. Especially if they've never had surgery before and don't know what to expect, we only have about 15 seconds to help them understand and feel comfortable before they go under."

Maybe this is the whole scenario of "walk a mile in his moccasins", but I think it's important for health care professionals to keep in mind that, while appointments, surgery or hospitalization is common for them, for patients, it brings about feelings of vulnerability and fear.

If you're a health care pro, I encourage you to take 15 seconds, just like the doc said. But not 15 seconds with the patient...take your 15 seconds on one of your breaks. Think about what a patient might be feeling, thinking or feeling. It doesn't take long to understand what the patient feels...and then to help them because, now, you have some extra empathy.