You are the first line of contact for patients when they enter your facility. Patients want to be treated with dignity and respect. CNA’s play a key role in making sure that the patient is satisfied with their care. In this blog post, we will discuss 10 ways CNAs can improve patients satisfaction by providing quality care they deserve.
1. Focus on Effective Communication
One of the most important roles of a CNA is to provide quality care while communicating effectively with their patient. Not only does good communication improve patient satisfaction, but it also reduces your stress levels by having fewer things to worry about.
There are many ways CNAs can increase effective communication with patients. You should start off by introducing yourself and asking how they are feeling. This will give you an idea of what types of assistance they may need from you on shift, as well as increasing your chances of providing them with better care.
Try not to use too much technical language when communicating with your patient. If there is something that the patient needs which you are unsure about, ask another nurse for help so you can avoid making assumptions or mistakes during caregiving. Also, try to put yourself in the patient’s shoes. If you were a relative of yours that was admitted into the facility, wouldn’t you want to be treated with dignity?
2. Build Rapport With Patients
CNA’s should build rapport with patients by asking them about themselves and showing interest in their lives outside of their time spent at your facility. By building rapport, you are also increasing your ability to effectively communicate with the patient because they feel more trust for you.
Asking specific questions about hobbies or interests will show that you care about what the patient has to say and remember little details about them which will make them feel special. You can even go as far as bringing up topics from previous conversations during future shifts if it is appropriate to the situation.
3. Seek Assistance From Other CNAs and Physicians if Necessary
One of the most important traits that a CNA should have is self-sufficiency as this will prevent them from having to rely on other CNAs or nurses for help, thus making their work load quicker and easier allowing them to spend more time with patients.
Seeking assistance is not necessarily a sign of weakness; it is often necessary in order to provide quality care. If you do feel like you need additional help and there are no physicians available, don’t be afraid to ask another CNA for support because they likely won’t mind providing assistance since they were most likely in your shoes before they became senior CNAs themselves!
Remember that effective communication is necessary when seeking assistance from other CNAs because they may be doing something completely different on their assigned unit and thus require a detailed explanation of what you need help with.
4. Give Patients Your Full Attention
If you are not currently interacting with a patient, do not spend time on your phone or watching TV while at work. It is important to give patients your full attention when they engage in conversation with you so that their experience at the facility improves and they become more satisfied overall.
If you can’t give someone your attention, it’s best to let them know before engaging in conversation with them so that they don’t waste their time having a one-sided conversation which could result in conflict between yourself and the patient if done frequently.
If you need to be on your phone or watching TV, try to find a quiet place in order to avoid distracting other employees and patients.
5. Avoid Negativity Towards Patients
If you are having an off day, try to avoid interacting with patients because they may sense the negativity and respond negatively towards them as well! Your mood does not affect the way that you treat patients only yourself, so try not to take out your negative emotions on others since it can cause conflict between employees which can result in disciplinary action depending on the severity of the issue at hand.
CNAs should focus on being friendly toward their patients even if they are having a bad day because this will create a better experience for everyone involved. People always remember how they were treated when they are having a bad day, so make sure your actions towards patients are positive to make them feel better!
6. Follow Through with What You Say You Will Do
This is a great way to build trust between yourself and the patient since you will be reliable in their eyes because you have kept your promises to them. If a patient asks you for something, do it if it does not take too much of your time away from other patients or tasks that need to get done. Not following through with what you say can result in conflict between yourself and the patient which may decrease satisfaction overall depending on how frequent this occurs.
7. Work Well With Your Team
It is important to work well with all members of your team even if they have different personalities than you. All members of your team should be working toward the same goal which is providing quality care for patients, so it’s important to not cause conflict with other CNAs and nurses as this can lead to decreased productivity on the unit depending on how severe the issue is. It is very difficult to work as a team if there are constant arguments between employees because this results in wasted time and lower morale within the unit and therefore patients may experience poor care overall.
8. Keep Things Clean and Tidy
Just like most jobs, cleanliness is an essential part of being a CNA since it creates a better patient experience and prevents infections from spreading among staff members (and subsequently patients). If your station looks messy, you won’t want to spend much time there since it will make you feel uneasy which may result in neglecting important tasks. If a patient’s station is messy, try to clean up the area as soon as possible so that they don’t have to experience a dirty environment during their stay.
It can be very difficult for CNAs to keep things tidy on their own especially if they are busy helping patients with their needs all day, so be sure to ask others for help if your station starts looking cluttered and messy! This will create a better working experience for everyone involved because you won’t want to work somewhere where space is cluttered and disorganized.
9. Leave Your Personal Problems at Home
CNAs have plenty of stressors on the job, so it’s important to keep your personal problems at home when you are on the job. If you are having a rough day because you fought with your significant other before coming in for work, try not to take that anger out on patients since they may sense this negative energy and feel more uncomfortable than they did originally.
A great way to reduce stress is by eating healthy throughout the day which can help improve your mood overall depending on how bad it was initially. There are plenty of resources available online that provide tips for eating healthier, so be sure to check them out!
10. Give Patients Their Space if They Ask You To
If a patient asks you to give them some space, respect their wishes and start doing something else. People may come to the hospital when they are not feeling well or in a lot of pain, so it can be very difficult for them to have another person constantly asking questions and talking with them. Not giving patients their enough space will result in increased stress levels which can make existing health issues worse depending on how severe they were at the start.
Be courteous toward your patients, and interact with them in a positive manner so that patients know you care about them. Remember to smile often around your patients even if you do not feel like it because it can brighten up their day!