How do you build rapport with your more nervous patients?

Question

Lauren Adelman · Answer

How do I build rapport with my more nervous patients? So I think the key is to go slow. I definitely, if I have a patient that's nervous, I'll often start by just kind of coming into the exam room and talking to the owner, allowing them to get used to my presence, used to my voice, before I even go in to try and examine them. I think just some stranger coming in right off the bat and trying to touch you and examine you can be a lot for a lot of patients. The other thing I do, although maybe not so much right now when I'm eight and a bit months pregnant, but I do try and get down to their level. So if it's a big dog and it, or even if it's a small dog, and I can get down on the floor and let it approach me and kind of just hold up my hand and go slow and steady, I find that really helps. For cats, you know, I think allowing them to have some sort of security, so you know, not just like pulling them straight out of their carrier. If you can take the top half of the carrier off and kind of do part of your exam in the carrier if you can, or even most of it with the top off. So little things I think can make a big difference, but I think the key is just slow and steady wins the race.

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"How do you build rapport with your more nervous patients?"