Patient Counseling

Patient counseling is one of the most important responsibilities of a pharmacist, so a correct form of verbal counseling has to be chosen. In the direct/indirect form of verbal communication, the patient counseling should fall in direct form. Direct form is in which the problems or inquires are addressed straightforwardly. While counseling the patients about the medications that they are going to consume, it is essential that they clearly understand the medication and its effect. Although telling the patient about the side effects can make the patient incompliant, it is the right of the patients to know how the consumption of the medication can be risky. In this case, the pharmacist should directly inform the patient about the side effects …show more content…
This use of powerful language will convince the patients about the benefits and the side effects of medications. Even for the patients to believe that the pharmacist possesses adequate knowledge about the medications and its interactions, it is essential for the pharmacist to have a powerful language. The powerful language during counseling also shows that the pharmacist is confident and it in turn encourages the patient to trust the pharmacist. Once the patient has confidence in the pharmacist, the patient is more likely to comply with the instructions given by the pharmacist. Powerful language also helps in initiating and maintaining the conversation. If a pharmacist has powerful verbal communication, then the patient is more likely to take the pharmacist …show more content…
The Interpersonal Communication book states that confirming is valuing and respecting the person. The patients are more likely to listen to the pharmacist and follow the instructions given during counseling, when they feel valued. For example, a patient approaches a pharmacist saying, “I have a question.” If the pharmacist replies, “please feel free to ask any kind of question regarding your medication,” the pharmacist is making the patient feel that his questions are valued. Often patients are stressed because of their health problems. For example, if the patient is talking about the health problems, confirming message by saying, “I understand,” indicates that the pharmacist understands the patient’s feelings and the situation. All this helps to build good relations with the patients during counseling. Conversely, disconfirming messages can have the opposite effects. For instance, the patient will be hesitant to ask questions if the pharmacist is not paying attention to patient’s questions or indicating that the patient’s questions are irrelevant. Moreover, the pharmacist might also disconfirm messages by disqualification. For example, the consultation of a patient by a pharmacist who is in a hurry might lead to delivery of incomplete information. Consequently, the disconfirming will worsen the relation between the patient and the