medical manners Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Professional Courtesy, LLC

Holiday Gifting for Your Medical Staff

December 18, 2014 by procourtesy

medical doctor holding gifts in hands isolated on white

A Medical Manners Moment…

Holiday Gifting for Your Medical Staff

I am always disappointed when I hear health care workers in larger medical groups say that they don’t think their physicians even know their names. A sad commentary I think, since a physician’s staff has a lot to do with the over all patient experience. Also, it has been shown that the feeling of being valued in a job is very important to all of us. So, if health care workers feel they are invisible to their physicians they are certainly not feeling valued.

Since this is the holiday season, now, is the perfect time for physicians and administrative people to show their appreciation to their staff members.

Here are some ideas on how to do that:

Attend the office Christmas party. If you are the boss and you don’t attend the practice party, the message you are giving is one of indifference or that you don’t care about your staff.

Gift your staff. Offering a monetary bonus if it is in your budget, or a thoughtful gift, is always appreciated at the holiday time. Focus on the word thoughtful.

Acknowledge everyone. Get to know all the staff people, from the scheduler to the people in your billing department by name. There all no small jobs in any organization.

Feed your staff. If the size of your staff is small enough, take them out for lunch occasionally. If it is too large for that, order in.

Remember your staff all year long. You don’t have to wait until the holidays to show your appreciation. Consider doing something nice for your staff throughout the year. For instance, acknowledging birthdays is another way to make them feel special.

The Perfect Introduction

July 15, 2014 by procourtesy

The Perfect Introduction
Are you one of those people who gets nervous when having to make introductions? Do you get sweaty palms worrying that you’ll forget someone’s name? Well, don’t be too hard on yourself, many people have anxiety about making “proper” introductions. But here are some simple formulas for introductions that can ease your anxiety

Introducing yourself is how you make yourself known to others. The best way to introduce yourself is to say, “Hello, I’m____________.” Be sure and give your first and last name. You want people to remember you.

In response to an introduction, saying “hi” or “hello” is not enough. Repeat the person’s name along with saying, “hello.”

Here are some more tips that can help you get comfortable with introductions:

It is your responsibility to introduce yourself at any function, if no one introduces you.
It is okay to say, “please help me with your name” if you have forgotten someone’s name. Don’t say “you don’t remember me do you.”
Don’t give yourself an honorific when introducing yourself to others such as Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.
In formal introductions the most important person’s name is said first regardless of gender. For instance,“Mr. Greater Authority, I would like to introduce “to you” Ms. Lesser Authority.
If you say “you to” you have reversed the order. Keep in mind that “U2” is an Irish rock band and it is incorrect.
“May I present to you” is used in very formal situations.
Less formal situations, “Ms. Smith I’d like to introduce Mr. Jones.
Do balance Introductions. If one person is introduced with an honorific, the other person should be, too.
Don’t tack on the term “my friend” to one of the names when introducing two people. It implies that the other person is not your friend.

If you are responsible for making introductions, do your homework and practice ahead of time, especially if it is a big event with distinguished guests.

Physicians Need Good Table Manners

April 14, 2014 by procourtesy

Physicians Need Good Table Manners
A few years ago I was engaged by the director of a medical residency program in my community to teach the program residents table manners. Now, you may wonder why medical residents need to know how to navigate a dining table gracefully. But good table manners are a must for professionals in any arena.

The director of the program stated that she felt some of the residents were lacking in good table manners and that this could be a huge turn off for potential candidates considering the program. The senior residents did a lot of interviewing and answering questions of the medical students considering this program, over a meal. If a certain level of sophistication wasn’t displayed she was concerned that the program would lose people to more metropolitan areas that were perceived to be more sophisticated and have more to offer.

I couldn’t agree more with her line of thinking, but not only interviewing potential people for a residency program…consider the residents who are being interviewed for jobs in medical groups after they finish their training. Many of those interviews are conducted over a meal. Poor social skills may be a liability, in spite of technical skills.

Also, physicians participate in lots of board and committee meetings that involve meals. Being the guy who is splayed all over the table acting like it is his last meal is a real turn off.

So, along with knowing how to handle a scalpel, knowing how to manage a knife and fork gracefully, will be to any physician’s advantage.

Here are some of my top dining tips:

Assess the table and pause before picking up any silver. Wait for your host or hostess or senior person at the table to start the meal.

Open your hands, palms up. Place the knife and fork on the open hands. Let half of the handle rest on the palm of each hand; turn the implements over and leverage the knife and fork with your index fingers.

Eating in the American or Continental fashion is acceptable in America today.

Don’t gesture with your knife and fork.

Cut one bite at a time.

Put napkin on lap to unfold. When leaving the table temporarily, place the napkin on the chair. At the end of the meal, place napkin to the left of plate.

The soup spoon is held like a pencil.

Soup is spooned away from you toward the center of the soup plate. Sip off the side of the spoon.
The soup plate may be tipped away from you in order to fill the spoon with the last sips of soup.

Do not blow on soup or stir it if it is too hot. Skim off the top or wait until soup cools.

Refrain from putting crackers in your soup when out or at a formal meal.

The soup spoon may rest in the soup plate when finished or in between bites. The spoon rests on the saucer when it comes in a cup.

When encountering a multi-course meal with multiple pieces of flat ware and you are questioning what fork to use first, start from the outside and work in toward the plate.

Solids are on the left of your dinner plate, such as, bread and butter plate and liquids are on the right.

Break bread in bite size pieces and butter one bite at a time over the bread and butter plate.

Pass food to the right. If you start the food, take your portion when it comes back around to you.

Taste your food before seasoning it.

When someone asks for the salt, pass both the salt and pepper in anticipation of their need. Set it on the table in front of them and let them pick it up.

Keep personal items such as; purses, glasses, cell telephones, etc. off the table. Purses should stay on your lap or under the chair.

Refrain from putting on make-up, combing hair, picking teeth, blowing nose vigorously at the table. “If you do it the bathroom, don’t do it at the table.”

If someone offers a toast to you do not drink to yourself.

When offering a toast, remember to be appropriate for the audience and be brief. It’s a toast not a roast.

If in doubt about what to do, watch someone at the table who knows. It can prevent an embarrassing situation.

When leaving the table temporarily do not announce where you are going; just say, “Excuse me.”

Chew with your mouth closed. Take small bites to avoid talking with food in your mouth.

Try a little of everything presented unless you are allergic to a certain food.

Don’t talk about food likes and dislikes at the table.

Maintain good posture at the table. Keep arms and elbows off the table.

Don’t push your plate away from you when finished eating and wait for everyone to finish before plates are cleared.

Reproduction of this material without prior authorization from Professional Courtesy, LLC is strictly prohibited.1/20/2014

Keeping Your Patients Well Informed

March 26, 2014 by procourtesy

Doctor with female patient

Keeping Your Patients Well Informed

Are you giving your patients adequate information after a surgery or a major procedure? It may be time to re-evaluate your patient education materials and or the way you respond to patient questions.

Post-op and post procedural care is so important to patient outcome and success. And I am often surprised when I hear from family members and friends that they didn’t get adequate information or adequate answers to their questions about recovery expectations.

What may seem obvious to medical people may not seem at all obvious to a patient without any medical background who is experiencing something way out of their comfort zone or area of expertise.

Responding to the question, “when can I expect to start exercising after my surgery?” with “whenever you feel like it,” doesn’t seem to be a good enough response to me. Surely adding some time frame to that response would be more helpful. How about giving the typical recovery time and go from there. Certainly, a patient’s age, general health status and many other factors make each case different, but in the case of patient information, “more is more.”

Take a look at your material, evaluate it and look at it from the perspective of a non-medical person and see if it answers the repeated questions that you get from your patients. If you are getting lots of calls after procedures from your patients with lots of questions, then your material probably isn’t doing the job.

Here are a few things to consider when developing patient information material:

Develop a check list as to what material is given and by whom, to your patients post surgically and post procedural.
Designate a specific person in your office to deliver the information and take the calls after the procedure is over. Giving their name and extension number can save a lot of frustration for the patient who might otherwise have to navigate a difficult phone tree.
Address the most common issues that can go wrong after a certain procedure and what the patient should do about it.
Define clear expectations for optimal recovery. For instance, how much physical therapy is going to be needed to get back up to speed.
Be clear about pain medication; how to take it to get the maximum benefit. And how to get refills if allowed and needed.
Educate the patient on signs of infection and any other serious things that can go wrong after a procedure.
List limitations and general time frame for those limitations.
Make sure the patient has adequate help at home. If they don’t, social services may need to be brought in to evaluate things.

This list could go on and on, but most importantly be open to patient questions. Try to anticipate what could come up and treat patient questions the way you’d like your questions treated in the same situation…with respect. There are no dumb questions in this case.

Do you wish you would have had better information from your physician after a surgery? If so, what?

Modern Medical Attire

March 17, 2014 by procourtesy

It has been said, that the way we are dressed can influence the way we work and how we are perceived by others. This point was made when my colleague and fellow medical etiquette trainer, Darlene Das in Hendersonville, N.C. took her husband’s office staff from looking unremarkable to looking great with some changes in the way the entire office dressed.

She and the staff shared their before and after photos. Looking good, Darlene. Darlene can be found at www.today’setiquette.com.

Before…..

After…..

Just as in any other arena, the dress for medical people has changed dramatically over the years. The traditional white uniform with white hose and a nursing cap is rarely seen anymore. Those crisp white uniforms have given way to “scrubs.”

While scrubs may be more comfortable than uniforms of the past, they make it more difficult to look tidy and to identify your position in a hospital or office. So, a good way for the public to know if you are nursing staff or cleaning or dietary staff is to color code each department and post the color key in patient’s rooms and in patient info material.

One of the most important ideas of uniforms is to let the public know who you are, that you are at work, not at play, that you are not some stranger off the street who comes into a patient room in the middle of the night. In short, you should look like what you do and who you are.

Here are some basic tips for dressing in the medical arena today:

Establish well-defined dress codes and enforce them.
Be clean and well-groomed. Shorter fingernails are more professional and more hygienic. Save nail art and dramatic nail color for social situations.
Keep hair up and out-of-the-way. And keep make-up subtle.
Keep fragrances to a minimum.
Make sure your clothes fit well. Well fitting clothes are a benefit to everyone, no matter the size.
Keep clothes well maintained and pressed.
Panty hose should be worn with skirts, bare legs are unprofessional.
Invest in, and use a full length mirror before leaving the house.
Wearing pants may not be flattering to all women. If that is the case, consider a uniform with a skirt.
Avoid quirky and cartoon prints. Solid colors are often more flattering than prints.
Adding Jackets and blazers give an air of authority and professionalism to men and women.
Wear identification badges on right shoulder so they are easily seen (first names only may be necessary for security reasons). Reinforce identification with a verbal introduction.
Save athletic shoes for athletics. Wear clean, polished, professional shoes. No sandals or Crocs.
Keep jewelry to a minimum.
Avoid chewing gum…it isn’t professional in any setting.

Individuals in administrative positions or positions that do not require a uniform, including physicians, should use care to look professional and well-groomed. It is just as important as those requiring a uniform.

What is your office or hospital doing to make staff look more professional?

Holiday Gifting for Your Medical Staff

The Perfect Introduction

Physicians Need Good Table Manners

Keeping Your Patients Well Informed

Modern Medical Attire

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