3 Qualities My Family Doc Must Have

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Nurses, tell us: What are the 3 most important qualities that your personal doctor must have?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

1. The willingness to listen carefully to the patient (many doctors are entirely too busy or distracted to listen closely)...

2. Honesty...please be blunt about my health! Don't hide anything...

3. Assertiveness, regarding getting labs and diagnostic work ordered, interpreted, and communicated to the patient in a timely manner...

My mother wore a holter monitor back in January, and her family doctor barely reported the abnormalities last month. She took a stress test several weeks ago, but her doctor has not followed up or reported the results. My mother continues to call her doc for the results, but she usually runs into a brick wall. I told her to find another doctor...especially since her mother (my grandmother) died of heart failure. A family history of cardiovascular disease exists.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

nurses, tell us: what are the 3 most important qualities that your personal doctor must have?

1. must be a good listener -- i want them to listen to me!

2. must be willing to work collaboratively with me as an active part of the health care team.

3. must be honest, truthful and not evasive.

and believe me, when i encounter a physician who lacks these qualities, i don't go back for a second visit!

[NurseLatteDNP, MSN, DNP, RN]

1. must have time for me and not be in a hurry all the time.

2. doesn't think that pills are the answer for everything. doctors are so fast in prescribing pills.

3. must be nice to the nurses. if my doctor would be an a** to the staff, i would get another one.

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

I know what I don't want - I don't want the doc who refused my patient's request for pain med increase s/p lobectomy because "the percocet should be sufficient to take care of her pain."

Ummm...hello? Whatever happened to believing the patient?

I also don't want a doc who doesn't call back promptly or one who yells at the nurses. I've seen nurses nearly do backflips trying to avoid calling these types, sometimes resulting in dangerous delays in treatment.

I guess my three most important qualities would be:

1. Clinical excellence

2. Compassion

3. Humility

[Djuna]

1. Must be a woman - I never feel comfortable sharing anything personal with a male MD

2. Understanding - none of us are perfect and yes, we would all like to be fit, the right weight and have no mental illnesses but life is not always like that

3. Up to date - nothing worse than an MD who does not bother to keep current in their medical practice

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

1) Must wholeheartedly embrace modern, evidence-based practices. When I ask a question, "I read this in a journal" or "Current guidelines state" is the correct answer while "This is how I've always done it" is the wrong answer.

2) Must treat me as a partner in my health care- give me the options and let me make the final treatment decisions

3) Must "click" with me, meaning that our personalities must be compatible- it I don't feel that I can talk to my MD it isn't going to work

[justme1972]

1. Listen to my concerns, and look at me when you are speaking.

2. Have a professional front-end staff, and teach them to listen to. I have stopped seeing more physicians based on their front-end staff, than of anything the physician has or hasn't done.

3. Yeah, I know you don't like to call in prescriptions without seeing people. But when you get the same (insert illness here) once or twice a year, and JUST THIS ONCE, I am too sick to come in...after being your patient for several years...can you just cut me a break?

4. Stick to your schedule and don't over-schedule. My time is just as valuable as yours.

5. Have a competent billing staff that isn't sending me collection letters within a week of my visit.

oops...sorry I can't read...you asked for 3!

[RNperdiem, RN]

1. Medically skilled- I want the doctors the other doctors go to see.

2. Accessible- When I need to see a doctor, I want to be seen in a reasonable amount of time, depending on the urgency.

3. A good listener with good observation skills

[flashpoint]

1. They have to be up to date...I don't want a doctor who is asking ME what the new drugs do.

2. They have to be compassionate and they need to document well enough that they don't have to ask me how many children I have or where I work every time I come in.

3. They have to be accessible. I don't want to wait three days to get in to see him for my sore throat or UTI.

[ceecel.dee, MSN, RN]

1. Look me in the eye, as if really interested

2. Listen to me, as long as I want to talk

3. Don't order tests just to order tests

4. Follow-up with me

[clee1]

Competence, efficiency, currency.