Patients
Watch for these 5 subtle signs that may indicate your patient is in distress:
1. The “turtle effect”
The patient’s shoulders are one of the key indicators of weakness, insecurity and negative emotions. When the shoulders are rising toward the ears, they cause what is known in psychology as the “turtle effect,” and it’s a sure sign that the patient needs some kind of attention.
2. Hand wringing
Another universal sign that someone is stressed and concerned is hand wringing. Watch for white knuckles—if someone is clenching that tightly, they need something…and you’d better find out what it is.
3. The chin tuck
When we’re concerned for ourselves, or confidence is low, the chin will tuck in—forcing the nose down. This can be a sign of emotional or physical distress, so again, we’d better check.
4. Simultaneous reaction
Watch for the timing of protective body language such as crossing of arms or looking away. If these body cues coincide while you’re asking them a question, there may be something they’re hiding or uncomfortable discussing.
5. Eye Contact
If your patient avoids or will not hold your gaze, he or she may be feeling anxious.
Patients | Coworkers | Manager | Patient’s Family | Different Cultures | Improve Your Workday
I think this is a very interesting article with good cues to tune in to when dealing with people. The nature of our job focuses on interpersonal relationships, and oftentimes these relationships have to be formed in times of extreme stress and anxiety for the receiving end, the patient. Taking nonverbal cues is extremely important and I think the author details many of these in an effective manner. Would love more details about patient interaction. Eye contact is another big factor and sign of a person’s comfort level along with pacing in the room. I like the section about body angles which can be very important when doing family education- a family member that leans in and is engaged is more likely to be absorbing the information as opposed to the person that sits far away from you and avoids eye contact. I thought the co-worker and manager section was interesting because I would not have thought to analyze a person with hands behind the head or on the hips but I will after reading this. Something else that is extremely important for healthcare professionals to remember is taking into account various cultural practices and differences. Some cultures may exhibit a body language or nonverbal cue that could be taken as rude to what you view as norm, but in their culture it is customary such as avoiding eye contact or sitting in a certain position. Be open to nonverbal cues but also be aware that some people may interpret cues differently than you.
How thrilled I was to find more and more males going into the nursing profession. But there is no doubt that the male nurse has a totaly different relationship w/ the doctors. Even the patients assume because the sex of the nurse is male that he must be a doctor and very few of the nurses correct that assumption. I have been nurse for 40 years and do not believe that all male nurses are superior to me because of their sex.The whole story has to be RESPECT and this is something that has to be earned not a given because of birth rights.
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5. Eye Contact
Doesn’t apply to all patients. I suffer from severe headaches, eye contact is disturbing, impossible to hold a gaze and talk or listen at the same time. I get distracted. If Doc talks to me and i look at him i can’t understand everything being and i also forget what i was going to say. Suddenly my memory blocks and words i just had in mind vanishes but turning my eye or looking at an other direction everything gets better and words come to mind again. Also usually my head and eyes look downwards for the most part. However as i try hard not to look down to avoid miss understanding of my body language, it also makes the headache worse, there is being times i have vomited by struggling not to look downwards and try to hold a gaze at physicians offices. And a drop of a needle on the floor is distracting, sound sensitive and takes my attention away when Doc clicks the computer mouse while there for treatment, the sound of the clicks worsens not only the headache but feel pain through the ear going straight right to middle of the head and feels like it is something physical touching the pain inside of the head. In short it really depends on the disease.