Patient Appreciation
After every session of therapy, I like to thank patients for their time and for coming to see me, as well as tell them they have done an excellent job. Without them, I would not be doing what I do. It is so easy to give a wheelchair a final push in a room and dash off to see another patient without acknowledging the time and effort a patient has put into the session. Yes, we are busy running around, changing schedules and trying to fit everyone into the day. But another moment in a patient's life with us, thanking him for his time, lets that patient know we truly care.
When I was bagging groceries for a local supermarket in Las Vegas, all of us were told we are the very last people the customer sees and thus some of the more important people in the store. How we speak to customers, gently pack the eggs and bread into the cart and ask if they need help out are part of what customers see and hear before leaving. When we were busy, we literally ran from cashier to cashier, packing groceries for hundreds of people a day. All customers were asked if they needed assistance to carry the groceries out. It was part of the customer service the store provided.
So, part of our customer service should be to thank the patients for their time spent with us. Certainly they have better things to do with their day than spend it in the therapy gym. And if you leave the patient in his room, stop yourself before you dash off to treat your next patient and ask him if he needs anything else. You just might be one of the last people the resident sees.