Listening, Truly Listening, Makes All the Difference
When health professionals listen, they can change lives
When was the last time you really listened to someone? Some people are natural listeners, others have to work at it. Listening is a true skill, but it makes all the difference in the world.
Doctors, other healthcare professionals must actively listen
When I was studying nursing, we had to learn effective communication. We had to fill out forms during our clinical rotations. We would care for a patient and record various things. If I remember correctly, we had to note:
What we saw/observed.
What the patient said.
What we interpreted from what we saw.
What we interpreted from what the patient said.
Our response.
I may have forgotten something but given this was in the late 1970s, I think that’s to be expected!
Oh how we hated that exercise. We complained bitterly about it each and every day. It was only as we began working as nurses that we understood the purpose. We needed to really see the things around us, not just glance around. We needed to pay attention to how a patient was using their hands (perhaps guarding a sore spot?), their facial expressions, or how they stood or sat. Did the patient flinch when they were touched? Did a child clam up when a parent was close by? Did the patient deny having pain but the look on their face said otherwise? We also needed to truly listen to their words, not just attend to our tasks. And we had to figure out how we interpreted those actions and words.
The American Association of Family Physicians addressed the issue of active listening in an article, Listening Techniques for Physicians. Not only does it discuss the importance of active listening and asking questions that provide descriptive responses (not just yes or no), but putting aside personal, cultural, and religious biases.
The Harvard Business Review also wrote about the topic because it’s well-known that one of the problems many healthcare professionals have is the lack of time to sit and listen. As appointment times are compressed, patient needs become more complex, and more tasks are added to their days, I’m sure most doctors want to spend more time with their patients – but they can’t.
The article’s authors wrote: “Compressed medicine has real risks. Clinicians become more likely to provide ineffective or undesired treatment and miss pertinent information that would have altered the treatment plan and are often blind to patients’ lack of understanding. All of this serves to diminish the joy of serving patients, thereby contributing to high rates of physician burnout. These consequences have clear human and financial costs.”
My own experience
My experience is just one of many that proved that paragraph. I spent years being treated with medications for a common health problem that I never had. In early adulthood, I started showing symptoms of asthma but there were some things that didn’t quite fit. The doctors explained these oddities away by saying I had an atypical presentation, one that wasn’t common or typical. But none of their treatments, including multiple high doses of prednisone, worked. I just lived with the flare-ups until they finally went away.
Finally, after decades of misdiagnosis and getting worse, a year ago I saw a doctor who actually listened to me. He asked questions. He probed. He redirected me if needed. And that first visit gave me my answer. He said he didn’t think I had asthma. He believed I had asymptomatic GERD. I started on a new medication the next day and within a few days, there was improvement. Within a couple of weeks, my horribly intense cough had mostly stopped and I could speak a full sentence without gasping.
I saw or spoke with him several times over the past year and when I had a few flare-ups, we figured it out. Each time I spoke with him, I felt listened to. And now I know what my problem is and, just as important, what it isn’t. I don’t have asthma. I didn’t have asthma. And that is why none of the drugs worked.
I don’t know if I’m angry at the ones who misdiagnosed me. I am upset that I took unnecessary medications, like prednisone. I’m upset that I spent a lot of money on medications that didn’t help. And that my quality of life was impacted when I was having an exacerbation. I also worry about permanent damage that may have occurred after decades of not being treated properly. But I do believe that a big part of the problem was that the doctors didn’t properly listen. If they had, it may not have taken so long for me to get where I am.
Listening goes far beyond just one profession
Whether you are a healthcare professional, a teacher, an electrician, or anyone else – listening is vital. You need to listen to what people are telling you and not what you think they are telling you. It does make a difference.
What do you think? Leave your comment below. Let’s get a conversation going.
Please note: I am taking a short break from this newsletter as I re-evaluate if I will keep it going. I’ll let you know soon what I decide. Thank you for being a loyal reader and I hope to be back soon.