COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY AS A CLINICAL PHARMACIST: PATIENT COUNSELING

A clinical pharmacist is a communicator at the core. 

We communicate with patients, their caregivers, nurses, doctors and, other health care professionals. Effective communication is an indispensable skill for the service we provide.

One of the most effective skills a Clinical Pharmacist should have is effective communication. We must be able to master how to communicate with patients in a way that they understand.

Patient counseling is one of the most fulfilling things to do as a clinical pharmacist. We are tasked with the responsibility of breaking down complex health and medication-related information in relatable ways to patients. The ability to do this effectively brings a level of job satisfaction and gives the patient/caregiver clarity.

It is one thing to know how to counsel patients, it is another thing to know how to do it effectively.

There are two communication strategies that can improve our patient counseling duties as clinical pharmacists.

Language mastery: It is important for a clinical pharmacist (especially a community pharmacist) to be fluent in the native language in his/her work locality, in order to be able to communicate the needed health and medication information to all age groups in a simple way.

If you're working in a locality where you cannot speak their native language, it is always important to try and learn the language, because language creates a kind of bond that can fasten people's likelihood of trusting you as a health care professional.

Minimizing medical jargon: patient counseling should be communicated in the most possible simple terms. As clinical pharmacists, we should not try to counsel patients using medical terminologies. We must always try to use terms and sentences that they can remember.

One way to measure the success of a patient counseling session is by asking the recipient of the counseling to reiterate the information just shared in their own words. By doing this we can be sure that our points were passed across as intended and we will be ready to fill in any gaps.