10 Little Things that Matters a lot to Patients

1. Wish your patients, "Good Morning" during
morning round and "Good Night" at the end of the
day. Also wish them well & happy, and hopefully never be back again with sickness when they are discharged.

2. Smile to your patients whenever you meet them - they are the most important people in your medical career. Your smile should be part of your therapeutic management. It is FOC and effective with no side effects.

3. Educate your patients on their medical problems in a way comprehendible to them. It is partly your failure if they don't understand their problem and the reason for their admission.

4. Let your patients know in advance on whatever procedures that you are planning for them e.g. ECG, ECHO, Ultrasound, CT Scan, OGDS etc. Give them the time to be mentally prepared.

5. Entertain your patients' doubts, fears and worries with compassion even though it sounds ridiculous to you. Do remember that your fear could be different from your patients' fear.

6. Show your patients that the needle has been taken off after inserting a venofix. This is an effective treatment for psychological pain. A great healer should heal the mind and body.

7. Medicine works better if your patient knew the reasons for taking it, and has confidence that it works. Don't forget to remind your patient on that when serving medicine.

8. Tell your patients the reasons and importance of taking their blood for investigations. Remember that it is their BLOOD - don't steal it from them!

9. Plan your blood taking on your patients so that the number of venepuntures can be minimized as much as possible to avoid unnecessary pain.

10. Respect your patients' privacy. Don't forget to close the curtains when examining them.

TENDER LOVING CARE (TLC) should be prescribed to all patients in high dose & at least QID irrespective of the diseases they have.


By Dr. Phang Cheng Kar (M.D.)