Emotional Intelligence
The PLEASE CARE program discussed in the assigned reading presents a set of values and behaviors that healthcare providers have to take into account when working with their patients. From my experience, it follows that the practices and attitudes discussed within the frame of the program can apply to all types of healthcare services, including animal care. This response is devoted to the case related to the demonstration of emotional intelligence, one of the PLEASE CARE values (Viggiano, Pawlina, Lindor, Olsen, & Cortese, 2007).
My everyday activities include meeting clients who bring their pets, making notes to understand the key complaints, conducting physical exams, and other important tasks. Taking that into account, it is necessary to communicate with clients on a daily basis, which justifies the need for well-developed emotional intelligence skills. Two months ago, I needed to work with a female client who visited the hospital to bring her old cat with severe hematuria to the veterinarian. The woman could not leave her seven-year-old son at home alone, and this is why he came to the hospital with her.
The cat had numerous symptoms of cancer, and it was quite difficult to conduct examinations and analyze findings because both the animal and its owners were extremely nervous. For instance, the boy could not stop crying, and this emotional reaction had a severe impact on the cat’s condition. To manage the situation, it was necessary to focus on improving the clients’ mental condition, which involved distracting the boy and his mother from negative thoughts. In particular, my emotional intelligence skills helped me to find the right words to calm the clients down and make them wait for the results. Considering that being unable to demonstrate social skills would impact all parties negatively, it is clear why such component as emotional intelligence is emphasized in the PLEASE CARE approach.
Respect
Adapting to unique circumstances and cultural values is among the key strategies that the PLEASE CARE approach to the provision of care emphasizes. One of the ten components of success, respect, refers to the ability of a healthcare provider to be flexible and stay unbiased when patients have difficulties in following specific recommendations (Viggiano et al., 2007). The latter may relate to intercultural differences, language barriers, the lack of resources, or some physical limitations. The experience with a client having a disability has helped me to realize the importance of respect in animal health care.
Working as a veterinary technician, I still have to be aware of people’s psychological needs because my activities involve talking to clients who bring their pets and, if necessary, educating them on further measures to be taken. A few weeks ago, I met the client who brought his dog for an exam, and it was pivotal to conduct a range of tests to make the final diagnosis. Due to some issues in the laboratory, it was not recommended to collect all samples at once, and the client was asked to visit the hospital two days later. Importantly, he had a physical disability, and, according to him, it would be extremely difficult to visit us one more time. Understanding his situation, my colleagues agreed to make an exception and resolved the problem.
The case above demonstrates that working in accordance with such value as respect is extremely important since it increases patient satisfaction. Thus, it is impossible to disagree with the creators of the PLEASE CARE model who recommend healthcare providers to make decisions with regard to patients’ unique needs. If the role of the latter is underestimated, it becomes extremely difficult to provide adequate care, which is more obvious in working with human patients.
Reference
Viggiano, T. R., Pawlina, W., Lindor, K. D., Olsen, K. D., & Cortese, D. A. (2007). Putting the needs of the patient first: Mayo Clinic’s core value, institutional culture, and professionalism covenant. Academic Medicine, 82(11), 1089-1093.