Question

Consider the consequences of a badly written note to a patient. What kind of message does this send to the patient? Why is word choice so critical to pay attention to when communicating with patients in writing? How can word choice impact how a message is received? What responsibility do you have as a medical assistant in ensuring the communication is clear and written properly? What are the steps that you should take to ensure that written communication is clear?

Answer 1

1. A badly written note communicates to the patient that the doctor is not a professional and that he / she is no sure of what they are doing. The patient may fell that he or she is not valued and hence lose trust and confidence in the doctor. This is why doctors should be extra careful when writing notes.

2. A person's choice of words is very important when communicating with patients because it will determine the patient's reaction especialy if you are giving them bad news. Due to the sensitive matter of medical reports, choice of words is important so as to avoid emotional breakdown or even shock.

3. Word choice can impact how a message is recieved in that it wil determine if the patient will have an emotional breakdown or they will be calm. In patients with a history of high blood pressure,wrong choice of words when delivering bad new may result to serious conditions or even death.

4.So as to ensure communication is clear and properly written, I have a resposibility of going through the record more than once to ensure everything is correct. I also have to ensure that the language use is not too complex for the patient or even other people to understand. The choice of words in the report should also be correct.

5. What are the steps that you should take to ensure that written communication is clear?
One of the steps is to ensure that all the fact and data are correct. The facts and data include medical records, names, time and other sensitive information. Another step is to ensure that the language used is easy to understand and information is well explained. This is to avoid any misunderstandings. Last but not least the choice of words should be right.