After participating in this elective, I was able to better understand the importance of asking open-ended questions and incorporating motivational interviewing into my interactions with patients. I made a conscious effort to avoid asking close-ended questions and to practice listening for “change talk” when coaching my patients on various health topics. After coaching a few patients, I quickly realized how effective those two skills are in building rapport with patients, coaching patients on their health conditions, and learning more about patients’ health histories.
Patient X was one of the patients that I worked with who probably had the biggest impact on me. It was through Patient X that I was able to really see how powerful open-ended questions are and why it is important to listen for change talk. By asking questions such as “How are you doing?” and “How can your stay here be better?,” I was able to learn so much about Patient X.
Instead of asking specific questions about Patient X’s health history, I was able to learn about it through follow-up open-ended questions that the initial questions sparked. For example, if I had not asked how much Patient X knew about his health condition, then I would have assumed incorrectly that Patient X needed to be coached on basic information on his health condition. Rather, Patient X already knew a lot about his health condition and wanted to learn more detailed and specific information that most people would not know to ask if they didn’t understand the basics of the health condition. I could tell that Patient X appreciate when I asked what he already knew about his health condition and for permission to educate him more on his health condition.
In addition, I noticed how quickly I speak with patients when I don’t ask open-ended questions. In the past, I think I would often fire questions one after the other such as the following: “How’s your pain today? What makes it worse and better? Did you feel better after…?” As a result, I think I could have made much better impressions with past patients because the way I structured conversations in the past with close-ended questions was very rushed. Whenever I asked open-ended questions, I slow down significantly because the open-ended questions allow time for the patients to think and to say what they feel is important to share with you. I think this elective was really useful for me because I am much more mindful when I speak with patients and their family members now. Moreover, I understand how much more successful I can be in caring for patients if I incorporate skills I practiced in the WoW elective in my future encounters with patients.