Engagement tips for a pharmacist complete

There isn't a set list of questions for doctors or pharmacists to ask, as it depends on the specific condition. Starting with an open question allows patients to freely express their symptoms. Closed questions are asked later to gather specific information. Listening is important, as it helps gather necessary information. Dealing with aggressive patients requires diffusing the situation by finding the reason behind their anger. Time constraints can be managed by offering alternative solutions. Honesty and a fresh mindset are important when dealing with patients. When patients mention information they found online, it's important to understand their reason for looking it up and address any concerns. Being organized is a necessary skill for modern pharmacies. With regards to questions that you can ask people, is there something like a doctor's top ten set of questions, or a pharmacist's top ten set of questions you have to ask to find, you know, to whittle away what the problem is and to actually come up with a solution? Yes, so it all depends on the type of condition you're dealing with. So what I would often do is I would deal with an open question at first. So if someone comes in with a sore throat, I would say to that patient, you know, what's wrong with you? I understand you've got a sore throat, can you describe the symptoms to me? And just let them speak. And often when you let that person speak, you tend to get, you know, 70-80% of what you're sort of looking for. Whereas if I interrupt them early on, whilst they're mid-conversation, I've already disrupted that process and then the rest of my consultation might be harder because I'm then going to have to keep asking closed questions of when did it start? Have you had a temperature? Can you swallow food? How's your breathing? Those type of things. Whereas if you just keep it open from the beginning, then it just flows. And then thereafterwards, once they've said everything they need to do, you know, whether it be a minute, two minutes, those type of things, that is when you can ask more focused questions to just go through those clinical parameters that you have to. So again, going back to sore throat thing, we always have to worry about red flag signs. So can you actually swallow? Are you having difficulty with your breathing? Have you got a headache, say, because of a temperature, visual symptoms, those type of things. So the closed questions will often come afterwards and that sort of gears you up and you can get all this sort of history you want from that. How important is listening? Listening is very important. It is very important. I think you learn to listen more as you get more experience. So I was guilty in my early days as a doctor to probably dive into questions sometimes because you're a medic, you're in there, you can just do all this and you can ask questions. And it was fine. I think I always got the outcomes as in all the history I wanted, but it probably made my life harder. So I think if you've got that ability to ask one or two probing questions, key questions for those clinical situations, you then just sit back and listen and then you get everything you want to. Now, some individuals can talk and they sidetrack and you could be listening to lots of things. And that's the time to slightly come in because obviously we've only got a finite time and it's nice to know everything about someone's life. But there is a moment you just got to bring them back and then just go back to the clinical question. The other thing I want to talk to you about was, we've mentioned some of the tips there. So we'll work on a couple of scenarios if we can. Now, a patient will come into your store, maybe slightly angry, maybe slightly ill because of an irritated ear. They haven't slept for a few days and they're a bit angry. If they can't get seen straight away, we mentioned some, you know, can you please come back in an hour or when it's quiet. If they're still being quite aggressive, what would be your diffusion system and to talk to them? Yeah, and I've dealt with aggressive patients or sort of customers in many settings. Sometimes what I try to do is I think if you meet it with aggression, clearly that's probably going to go wrong. So and that's the bit that you have to be careful with, whether it's just a general retail scenario, life scenario, but clearly a clinical scenario. It's trying to diffuse that situation. So if there is an element of reasoning at that moment that you can find why is that person very angry. And sometimes it's just sort of saying, sorry sir or madam, I can't meet your sort of expectation today. If I do this, this and this, would that be helpful? And something like that can be useful. It's really difficult because each person can come in in a different angle. There might be a reason why they're aggressive. And I've been in scenarios where that person might be on a substance, for example, and that might be aggressive. Or it might be that they've just had something untoward happen to them. You know, it might be a life circumstance, or it may be because they're in a real difficulty or illness that they just see no other angle. So if there is a way that you can slightly identify why they're coming at that angle, then again, that can give you that next step of how to approach that situation. And I think often that can be quite helpful. And then that slowly diffuses it. And responding in a slightly in a calm manner, measured manner is often the most helpful thing. Whereas if we also raise our voice, it's then who shouts loudest and it's that's when it tends to go wrong. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we'll retell the stories I can tell you off air. And in the other case, if someone, for example, it comes in to say, I've got a really sore ear. But there's 4000 people waiting. Yes. But they booked their appointment. What's the polite way of dealing with time factors? They may be the loveliest person in the whole wide world. But we've all looked behind our shoulders. And we've all started looking at watches and stuff like this. Yes, yeah. And in those situations, the worst is when, say you're the patient, and we're all patients, aren't we? And we go into, you know, we want an outcome, or it might be even a retail scenario, we want an outcome, but the person we go to gives us nothing. And then that's when we get angry. Yeah. Or frustrated. So So in those situations, what I would say to sort of staff or a clinical member, if they're in that situation, where where they can't, they can't see that patient there. And then it's, it's having a solution. So and that that's the key. And, for example, last night, we've got the pharmacy, so it could be sorry, we're really quite tight here today, we haven't got any appointments, but I have called this branch, and they were able to see in the next hour. Or it can be I can really see you're in difficulty, we haven't got an appointment in the next two hours, but I'll definitely see you at this time. And I think generally, if there is an outcome and a solution for a patient, most of us are reasonable, and we'll accept that. Yeah. And, and it's dealing in that manner, I think. And also, I suppose they can appreciate your honesty. Yes. Yeah. Again, we can talk about keywords and buzzwords and things like this. But honesty is played such a key factor. You can't you can't beat that. I think sometimes when we're at the other end, and I've been guilty of this, where you know, if I'm a GP, I feel really busy. It's been a hard day. It's Friday at 6pm. And I'm thinking eventually I want to go home. And then a clinical situation comes up. And then we can get frustrated and I can, you know, whether it's a fellow staff member, or, you know, even the patient, I always try to sort of check myself and say, No, for this person, this, this, you know, this scenario might have only developed there. And then that day within the hour, you know, and they're, they're on a different journey to you. So it's almost trying to check your thoughts and think, whilst you do feel tired or frustrated by whatever situation that you've been dealt with on that day, you have to come fresh with with that patient. And, and normally, when that happens, and you end up having that sort of dialogue with that individual, it comes out smoother, you feel better. Whereas if we go in there, angry, frustrated, it'll probably end up being a longer consultation, the outcome won't be good, there could be a complaint after it. So it's, it's, it's just trying to check your thoughts and think, Hang on, this person is on there on their journey. And I really got to help them for that 10 minutes, you know, that type of thing. And what about the internet? I mean, it's wonderful in so many different things. It's a bugbear and so many other different things. When you're dealing with people in the south, I've just seen I've just been reading Google, I've been reading this, I've been reading that. And how do you how do you diffuse that sort of situation and what people are looking for? Yeah, and there, there could be logic in how someone has approached that sort of question, because some of the things we look on online can be can be reasonable. So what I'll often say is, okay, what made you look online? Was there a reason? Yeah, is there something you're worried about? And, and, and often there is someone might say, Oh, because I've had this relative that has had this condition, you know, whether it be, you know, cancer or those types of things, you know, we, we often start looking online normally, because of for a reason. So So, again, it's just sort of identifying why someone someone has done that. Now, if the source is a little bit dubious, then I'll just reflect that back, I'll just know that you just need to be a bit careful in what you've looked on. Because whilst that has come as a warning, it is very rare for that to happen, you know, those type of things. So I'll just reflect that back to the patient and then and then just go back to the basics of you know, what are your symptoms? Why have you looked at that type of thing? And, and, again, most people, most people are fine with that when you when you go through it in that way. Again, I suppose it's all the way that you're carrying yourself around all your menia and towards other people and being open. Yeah, an open body language and things like this. And it is just a just a rounded up Dr. Raj, the skill set. You know, there was four things that would be ideal to be in today's modern pharmacies, what would be the skill set they'd need? I think it's really important to be organised. So I said at the beginning, because obviously, with pharmacies, there's a lot of things that are happening there now. So the traditional model is, is is not just dispensing medications, it's doing lots of things, managing a team, etc. And so being organised would really help. I think, remember, to have empathy, you know, why are we in this profession? Why are we in healthcare? Why am I a pharmacist? Why am I working in a pharmacy as an assistant? And you have to have empathy because because patients sort of come to you, you know, because they need you. Yeah. I think it's really important to have good communication skills. And it's, and it's really important to continually focus on your communication. No one, you can never say that's it, I've mastered communication, we're always sort of evolving on on things like communication. And I think I think that's really, really important. And the other bit is probably wouldn't say it's sort of one word, but it's just to be part of a part of a team. If you're part of a team, and you get on well with your team, and you work together, then I then I think that sort of that helps you that helps everyone.