Many years ago when I started in healthcare I noticed a certain attitude of the staff toward the patients. It was as if the physicians, nurses and other staff were bestowing an honor upon the patients when they provided them with care.
It was not until later that I realized that exactly the opposite was true. It is we who are privileged to earn the trust and confidence of the patients who allow us to serve them.
Someone once explained it to me this way:
Imagine you are the host and you have invited several guests to your home. You’ve cleaned the house and prepared everything so that your guests will be comfortable. You’ve turned on all the lights and placed a welcome mat outside the front door.
Your guests have arrived at the front door and have rung the doorbell.
You open the door, see your guests…and slam the door in their faces!
This essentially is what you do when you open your doors for business, then treat your customers poorly. You have invited them to do business with you, then have not been welcoming and appreciative when they accept your invitation.
If you have staff who don’t understand how important it is to form relationships with your patients beginning with a warm welcome, help them to envision each patient as arriving with an engraved invitation in their hand.
Image by LexnGer via Flickr
