by Olivia Bredbenner

Created on: August 15, 2009

If as a person; you are inclined to treat people with respect and interact with them in a polite way. You as a nursing student will most likely translate this behavior into a good bedside manner.

Nursing students as they evolve from a student to a full fledged nurse will continue to refine their people skills and learn the importance of making a patient feel comfortable in their presence.

If you ask a patient about what they think is a nurse with good bedside manners. Most would tell you that it is a nurse that can make them feel comfortable in any situation. One that listens to them and acknowledges their concerns and needs while delivering the best care they can.

A good bedside manner comes naturally to some nurses. Others have to learn the skills necessary to having a good bedside manner. Communication is the main focus with good bedside manners. The ability to make eye contact and to communicate to both patients and family is essential in your nursing practice. In health care patient confidentiality is critical to your patients sense of well being. Maintaining this is a nurses responsibility and in the practice of good bedside manners.

You will see your good bedside manner in practice when you can approach someone professionally and they are receptive to you. You will be seen as non threatening to them and they will develop trust in you. Your initial meeting with your patient is important and will set up your relationship with them for all time.

The persona of a nurse with a good bedside manner is both approachable and professional. Your demeanor, manner of speaking and body language establishes or undermines your credibility as a professional. And one who does or does not have a good bedside manner. Using formal introductions to your patients shows that you have respect for them. This is one of your highest priorities.

A nurse with a good bedside manner knows that most communication with patients is non-verbal. Primarily through facial expressions. How you interact with your patients while caring or educating them is of prime importance. Your patience, or lack there of , will be evident in your body language and be felt by a patient. A patient should at all times be treated with dignity.

The nurse with a good bedside manner is aware that it is the nurse that must adapt her teaching, her care and, her professional support to the level of the patients comfort. And not the other way around. A patient who is ill is compromised and this should be kept in mind at all times. Therefore, a too formal approach will cause some patients a level discomfort and is evidence of a poor bedside manner

Overview of good bedside manners:

Always treat patients with respect

The patient's needs are your top priority when they are in your care. Make them feel that way.

A patient will feel secure and confident in you as a nurse, if your behavior displays both compassion and competence.

Communicate , teach and support according to their priority and the needs of a patient.

The good bedside manner of a nurse is one of the most important tools in health care.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedside_manner

http://www.carepages.com/blogs/bedsidemanner/posts/w hats-a-good-bedside-manner-and-why-does-it

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http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/Pa-St/Patient-Rig hts.html

http://rn.modernmedicine.com/rnweb/Modern+Medicine+N ow/Nurses-Fix-your-professional-imagemdashstat/Artic leStandard/Article/detail/569946

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