7 Ways to Build Relationships with Patients

1. Introduce Yourself
Your patients have medical professionals coming in and out of their rooms all day
long. Don’t take it personally if they don’t remember your name or when you first
came in or even what you need to do. Tell them your name and what you will be
doing. Let them know how long you’ll be taking care of them.
2. Be Present
With all the hectic happenings in a healthcare setting, nurses have to have eyes and
ears open to everything. Sometimes that means when you are with a patient, you
aren’t 100 percent focused on them. Making the effort to bring your attention to the
patient in front of you helps. “Be present in the moment,” advises Pamela Chally,
Dean Emeritus, Brooks College of Health, University of North Florida. “Even
something nonverbal does a lot for being present. It can be a touch or eye contact,”
she says.
3. Keep Them Updated
Let your patients know what to expect. If you know they’ll have a CAT scan later in
the day, let them know the approximate time. If that time changes, pass that
information along. They might have questions about what’s going on and why they
need certain tests or procedures. Let them know or, if you don’t know all the details,
find out for them.
4. Spend Some Time
This is the most difficult piece because time is one thing nurses don’t have to spare.
But making the most of your time with a patient can help overcome the quantity of the
time you can offer. You can’t sit in the room and chat the afternoon away, but you can
ask them about their outside life. Talk about the latest baseball game, their
scrapbooking habit, or what they like about their job.
5. Learn About Them
If they have family in the room, try to learn a little about them and about your patient
as well. Be mindful if a family doesn’t want to talk, but also listen for small details
that aren’t volatile. Hobbies, favorite places, favorite foods, or upcoming events they
are looking forward to are all great ways to connect and will help break the ice.
6. Have Patience
In addition to their professional skill and their calm demeanor, nurses’ patience is
legendary. But having patience isn’t always easy, and when you have patients who are
scared, in pain, or just not particularly pleasant, it can be downright difficult. Watch
the nurses around you to see what coping techniques they have developed to deal
when tempers flare in your setting. Do they deflect with questions? Do they ignore the
situation and continue on calmly or do they address it directly? What does your
manager recommend when you encounter a situation that’s not easy? And find your
own way of bringing yourself back to a calm place when things get tough.
7. Make It Personal
With so many people to care for, it’s not going to be easy to remember small details
about everyone. But if you can remember your patient is especially nervous about
blood draws, has very particular food preferences or issues, or is more modest than
most (or not!), you can be prepared for those situations. Showing that you care about
them as a person will help build a mutual trust.
Building relationships with patients, no matter what setting you see them in, has a
ripple effect. You’ll make their stay or visit more pleasant, but you’ll also feel more
satisfaction from having connected with them, too. And if your patient trusts you and
feels like you are advocating for their interests, they are more likely to listen to what
you say and ask questions when they don’t understand something.
Building a relationship with a patient can lead them on a path to better health overall
and a better quality of life—what nurse doesn’t want that?