Tips for Effective Communication

Do you sometimes feel apprehensive about an upcoming doctor's appointment, wondering, "What should I say? How should I act? How can I get my point across to my doctor? Should I speak more or allow the doctor to do more or all of the talking? Will I make a connection with the doctor?" If you are a clinician, you may wonder, "Who is this new patient? "Will the patient be receptive to clinical suggestions? "Will the patient be accepting or judgmental?" This guidebook highlights several patient personalities and the effects of such personalities on the formation of productive clinician-patient relationships. It provides both patients and clinicians with the needed tools for effective communication that results in meaningful and rewarding clinician-patient relationships.

This helpful text is based upon the author's clinical experiences in diverse health care settings and interactions with patients and other clinicians during the past twenty-five years. Along with appropriate illustrations, Simple Tips to Developing a Productive Clinician-Patient Relationship includes clinician-patient scenarios with sample dialogues and tips for both clinicians and patients to help develop and maintain a successful clinician-patient relationship.

REVIEWS

After meeting Ms. Aghanya myself as a patient, I knew that she had a special gift for communicating with her patients. As she explains in her book, she not only has years of first-hand experience as a practitioner but learned as a patient as well, just how important proper communication and relationship building can be. As I read her book, I learned a great deal about how I can better my relationship with my providers, as well as how I, as a hospital chaplain, can better interact with the patients who look to me as one of the members of their team of care providers. I strongly urge all healthcare providers as well as those who have found it difficult to develop trusting relationships with their providers to read this book.

James M Dakis

This is a very informative book to read for both clinicians in practice and patients who may have many concerns about seeing a healthcare provider for the first time. Mrs. Aghanya has shown examples of many patients that clinicians encounter on a daily basis. With funny cartoon illustrations throughout the chapters to describe different patient personalities, I thought that she did a very good job of giving her own personal examples and giving tips on how to handle these patients.

I especially liked reading about an Opinionated Patient she had seen with elevated blood pressure who was on Coumadin. This clinical scenario is very common in practice and the tip she used on how to handle this type of patient was very helpful. I also think that this book would be very helpful for nursing/nurse practitioner students. It could be used as part of the curriculum for undergraduate/graduate school and as a tool for teachers to encourage students to give their own examples of patients that they will or have encountered. I really enjoyed reading Mrs. Aghanya's book and I could relate to many of the scenarios she discussed as a clinician. This is a must-read for all clinicians!

Cynthia Setoodeh RN, MSN, APN-C