Whatever You Do, Do Not Lose the Human Connection

AI, or artificial intelligence, in healthcare is all over the news and the internet. Each year, the workplace becomes more digital and high-tech, which may seem to reduce the need for patient contact.

Do you worry about your job as a caregiver being completed by a robot one day, because they do not get tired or complain, and can finish tasks in half the time? This may sound like a futuristic novel, but it could soon be a possibility.

“Healthcare is not science fiction,” you might say. To that, we agree. Yet with all the challenges that caregivers face every day, we should be careful not to lose something that makes us special as humans: our connection with one another.

As healthcare workers, we must share a common ground with our patients, so they feel that they are much more than just a task to be completed—they are people with feelings as well as health needs.

If this sounds cliché to you, read on. Here are some ways to bring back the human connection in healthcare:

1. Therapeutic touch.

Just a squeezing a patient's hand or forearm goes a long way to show we sincerely care. In one study, it was found that touch improved the mood and general well-being of cancer patients. A simple touch is a practical way of telling the patient that they are not alone in their efforts to get well.

2. Listen intently and be genuinely interested in the patient’s well-being.

Listening is a skill we take for granted, yet there is evidence that it improves patient outcomes. With active listening, we get the right information and respond accordingly. We make the right choices when it comes to our patient’s care, and we tend to feel compassion for them, too.

3. Whatever you need to say, say it nicely.

They say that it doesn’t matter what you say but how you say it. This is true. Opening communication lines between patient and caregiver preserves the human connection between them. With proper communication, the patient and the caregiver stop being strangers to each other. Instead, they become partners in making the patient's health much better.

4. Do not run out of empathy.

Some health workers who have been in the industry for some time, those who have “been there and done that,” say that as they aged at work, they lost their ability to empathize with their patients. With all the challenges of the job, perhaps it was their way of reducing emotional stress earlier on in order to cope and still function to get things done.

This practice became their habit. Those caregivers became so focused on finishing their tasks that they lost the essence of their care. When patients talk about their feelings, it just sounds like complaining to them, and so they fail to provide emotional support in the process.

Empathy is proven to build trust in the health worker-patient relationship, and with trust, the relationship between caregiver and patient grows stronger. The patient listens more, provides better information, and complies with treatment more firmly.

5. Show compassion and kindness.

Compassion and kindness help get the best from care procedures and all attempts to make a patient’s health better. When we are compassionate and kind, we experience joy and have a better understanding of people. This cycle of positive vibes fills the workplace. Without these two important values, indifference sets in and we lose the human connection.

6. Be present.

Is the patient distressed? Is the family grieving? Is your coworker venting their frustrations at work? Be physically present and stay with them. Even without saying a word, your mere presence can establish a strong connection and meet their emotional needs.

Every day brings new challenges to caregivers. There seems to be no time to rest and tasks just keep piling up. But whatever difficulties you may have, keep calm and never lose the human connection with patients, because it is the only way to really reap the rewards of caregiving.