Joking With The Patient

Joking With Your Patients:

  • Puts your patients at ease

    Votes: 47 92.2%

  • Makes you look incompetent

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I don't joke with patients.

    Votes: 4 7.8%
  • Total voters
    51
Sasha

Sasha

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Do you joke with your patients? Does it put them at ease or make you look incompetent?

I've been thinking about a patient I recently had. I usually joke around with the patient when I tech calls. When asking them to sign consent I'm usually like "Just sign here." and while they're signing "This is just saying that you're signing your car, your house, and your savings over to me." or sometimes I'm like "Is this your first time in an ambulance? Mine too!" (I think I picked that up from here.) and of course, the infamous "How old are you? 80? Come on now, don't lie to me! You don't look a day over 60! Hold on, let me ask your younger sister(wife)"
Usually the patients laugh, but I had one tell me to start taking my job more seriously.

So, joking, does it make you look incompetent?
(I'm talking Non Critical patients here, not ones who need to get gone fast.)
 
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i do the same...i feel it calms them and allows for a break from all the anxiety....it just shows you know that there is a mental, along with physical treatment we provide...:)
 
it depends. sometimes theres nothing wrong with it and sometimes it will make you look like an ***. it can be really tough to figure out which is which sometimes.

some people will look at the person who all business as cold and heartless. a marble statue in a uniform.

some will look at the jokester as moron who really doesnt know their job and is covering somethign up.

i dont worry too much about it. i'll make little jokes like that about age and what not but for the most part im pretty serious .
 
I joke with patients all the time. When I'm unsure about how they're going to respond, I either wait for them to make a joke first (which, surprisingly, a lot do!) or take a different, more calm approach.

I also only joke when I know the patient is stable and I'm not worried about their condition. I will often tell patients that I'm having a light conversation or joking around with that, if I were at all worried about them, we wouldn't be having a fun conversation. This makes me look more competent and puts them more at ease.

Of course, everyone is different, so if I don't think a grandfather, no matter how innocent his fall was, wouldn't appreciate me being anything but serious, I won't be anything but serious until he shows otherwise. It's my job to make my patient comfortable and at ease, not to have fun.

And Sasha, I love the "first time in an ambulance? Me too!" line :)
 
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Oh, can't forget the:

"Don't worry, we only drop patients on Saturday... Wait, what's today?" (Careful with that one though, one day we used that on one patient and the stretcher failed and he almost did get dropped!)
 
It's an art.

It can go sour real quick, and it can hit a wrong chord long after especially if things go wrong clinically later.
That said, I do. Reassures the pt when you carry on banter while rapidly and competently carrying out manual duties.
You know, sorta like the balloon guy at the pier?;)
 
I joke with my patients whenever I feel that it will calm them down and get their mind off of what is going on for now. Of course, there is always a time to joke and a time to keep it to yourself... just depends on the pt and the incident.

Take Care,
 
Acting informally with some patients sets a tone for the event that you are comfortable and not worried. Of course it needs to be done in moderation and you have to be able to gauge the response of the pt. and adjust accordingly.

My favorite line to patients seems to be, when strapping them into the gurney in preparation for the unload at the ER. "I have to fasten all these seatbelts. It looks bad to get you this close and then drop you in the parking lot!"
 
I find that joking with my Pts. helps them relax but, on the same hand if its a serious call I dont have time or the inclination to joke with the Pt. There is never a time to joke when on a DOA (with family members present).
 
It really depends on the patient. Also, the number of jokes you make during the call. And the problem they are seeking tx for. And a million other issues.

I am very rarely 110% serious with them. Maybe a lighthearted comment to test the waters. You really just have to be able to read your patients.

I can see how a more reserved individual would take it wrong if your entire encounter with them was thick with cliches and jokes. They are having what they perceive as a "crisis" (whether perceived or real). A little humor may bring some light to the situation, or it may make you appear incompetent.

The other thing you have to take into account is until you get in the back of that ambulance is how are your jokes perceived by everyone else standing around.... Family, Friends, Bystanders, FD, Law, nursing staff, ect.
 
Sasha said:
Oh, can't forget the:

"Don't worry, we only drop patients on Saturday... Wait, what's today?" (Careful with that one though, one day we used that on one patient and the stretcher failed and he almost did get dropped!)
Click to expand...

Why limit yourself? I only drop patients on days ending in "y."
 
Like so many people have said, it depends on the patient. You gotta "feel them out". Some people are serious, and don't joke around at all, some try to one up you with jokes, some sit there and laugh. I usually do joke with patients, but there have been a few people that I have been attending to, and just based on their personality, I decided against it. I did try it once with a patient who was a serious kinda person.. and they didn't like it at all. That being said, it hasn't stopped me from trying jokes with the other "serious" kinda people.

As far as making you look incompetent.. I don't think so, if you are, it's going to show in your care, obtaining a history (stopping and thinking about what to ask, especially when it comes to the basics), etc etc. To me, joking puts the patient at ease, and helps them get their mind off of whats going on. Temporarily at least.

Hope this helps!!
 
Sasha said:
Oh, can't forget the:

"Don't worry, we only drop patients on Saturday... Wait, what's today?" (Careful with that one though, one day we used that on one patient and the stretcher failed and he almost did get dropped!)
Click to expand...

HAHA....That happened to me two weeks ago. I was joking with a pt and said "Don't worry I won't drop you...but I can't be sure about my partner," in which we all had a good laugh. Unfortunately when we brough the pt home, his arms gave out (you can gues why) and we almost dropped the stretcher and pt. I quickly put on the professionalism and put the pt at ease and they started making a joke of the whole situation. We got lucky with that and I said.."See, I told you I couldn't be sure about him."

Now we are scheduled to get the pt on a regular weekly basis for dr visits because they liked us.
 
We had a patient once that was super-paranoid about us dropping her. Nursing home patient that was actually in the ER because she got dropped while being moved from bed to her wheel chair. We were doing the whole reassuring her we wouldn't drop her thing the entire time. We get back to the nursing home and are about to move her into bed. She was like "PLEEEEEASE DON'T DROP ME." My partner looked at her and was like "Drop you? I was just going to throw you on the floor and leave you there." It was followed by about 3 seconds of silence and the staff assisting us (she was a large patient) were staring at my partner and the patient started laughing which made everyone laugh. One of the funniest moments I've had around a patient.

I'm generally completely serious on scene. I'll talk to a patient, but rarely joke around with them. I'm like that as a person in general outside of work as well--if I use humor, it's a very dry humor.
 
The hard part is knowing and when it is appropriate. Alike what has been said, many times it releases tension and a ice breaker.

R/r 911
 
Like what Rid said, there is a time and a place.^_^
 
Sounds like it's unanimous already but there's a fine line you need to walk. And yet again it's about reading your patient and doing whatever makes them most comfortable.
 
I usually do many mundane interfacility transfers. It consists of about an hour and fifteen minutes one way. I don't usually do "jokes" as much as light-hearted conversation. I never joke about dropping my pt or anything pertaining to any preexisting conditions. However, the highway to and from is a very rough ride so I usually tell them I can't believe what a rough riding vehicle we get when we need comfort, and then when we are gone and can't feel the ride, we get the smooth riding Caddy with the soft silk lined box. 99.9% of the time the pt agrees with me and I feel it shows I care about their comfort while in my care.

I have joked with pts on emerg calls, but only non-criticals and usually when they could really use an anxiety break. It doesn't hurt that over 50% of those calls involve people I've already picked up and have an established rapport with.

I got called to our retirement lodge for a fall one day that happened to be a previous pt a few times before. As soon as I entered and saw her I commented; "you aren't where I left you". To which she replied; "No, I certainly am not".
 
Yup tis ok,

I find its when you get it worng they are always the funny ones. AND THEY NEVER APPRICATED THE GOOD ONES
 
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