I have a bit of a chatty style on ward rounds. The GPSTs and MDT are very skilled, so most of the technical stuff is taken care of already.

I share this article with students. It fits with a lot of what I think is important.

The Virtues of Irrelevance. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5magzk7doWTMFlMT3dxMmRWMmc/view?usp=drivesdk">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B...

When I’m chatting away about their family, pets, previous work & hobbies, I’m also assessing:
*cognition
*mood
*key personal history
*hearing
*speech
*understanding of current situation

Plus who & what is important to them & their levels of health literacy.
#WhatMattersToYou

It’s helpful to know what people’s understanding is of life too.

A gardener will understand that you can plant 10 seeds but not all will grow. (Treatments don’t always work).

An engineer will want logical explanations for medical phenomena.

A betting man will understand “NNT”!