Last week, I admitted a very functional 84-year-old woman to the hospital after she lost consciousness while gardening. She had been tired all week with no appetite.
"I was standing one moment and then... I wasn't. I'm just so weak. And so tired… I feel like I'm dying."
In her case, the clinical fix was simple. She had a urinary tract infection and low blood pressure from dehydration and heart medications. It was easy to address the competency component of her care – antibiotics and fluids. But great care requires competency and caring. And the real challenge is often the caring, which necessitates doing everything possible to reduce patient fear and anxiety.
There are three questions that are universally at the heart of patients’ fears and anxieties. I call these the Core Concerns:
What is happening to me?
Will you listen/talk to me?
Will you look out for me?
If you read them out loud - with a little feeling - you can see how these concerns inform one of the greatest commitments we have made by choosing to be a part of the health care team: to keep patients' fears and anxieties at bay.
We can meet this obligation by assuring that our communication and actions always address the Core Concerns. This is our job. And it improves the patient experience.
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