5 Written Questions

1. Our cultural background shapes our views of the world, as well as our values, attitudes, beliefs, and use of language. Each culture and ethnic group has its own values, traditions, and behaviors. These differences among cultures should not be viewed as barriers to communication. Remember that these beliefs are neither superior nor inferior to your own beliefs—they are just different.
2. Involves asking patients to provide reasons for their behavior. "Why" questions may have an intimidating effect on some patients.
3. Unconsciously returning to more infantile thoughts or behaviors.
4. Is the ability to communicate in terms that patients can understand while making them feel at ease and comfortable with what is being said. Therapeutic communication is also the ability to communicate with other health-care professionals by using technical terms appropriate in the health-care setting.
5. Part of a medical assistant's duties may include helping the physician prepare for a trip. The medical assistant should consult with the person traveling, carefully noting the date and time of departure, destinations, length of stay at each destination, and times of arrival at and departure from each destination. The best resource for travel information is a skilled agent at a reputable travel agency.

5 Matching Questions

1. Facial expressions
2. Listening Skills
3. Attitude
4. Elements of the Communication Cycle
5. Communicating with Patients as Individuals

1. a Your confidence and self-esteem can positively affect your success in the medical field. The way you represent yourself is the way others will see you.
2. b These should be nonjudgmental and correspond to your words.
3. c Listening is the act of receiving a message. Three different listening patterns are used in a medical office: active, passive, and evaluative.
4. d If you make an effort to develop good interpersonal skills, communicating with most patients will be easy. However, some situations can cause difficulties in communication. Sometimes communication problems occur in special circumstances, such as with anxious or angry patients, patients from different cultures, or patients with visual or hearing impairments.
5. e The communication cycle is formed as the sender, or source, sends the message to the receiver and the receiver responds with feedback. The message may be verbal or nonverbal. This circle of communication also may include noise, which is anything that distorts the message in any way or interferes with the communication process.

5 Multiple Choice Questions

1. • Do not participate in other people's negative attitudes.
   • Try your best at all times to be personable and supportive of coworkers.
   • Refrain from passing judgment on others or stereotyping them.
   • Do not gossip. Act professionally at all times.
   • Do not jump to conclusions. You do not know until you ask.
   1. The following suggestions can help improve communication among coworkers
   2. The 5 Cs of communication are
   3. Elements of the Communication Cycle
   4. Some examples of positive communication include
2. Detailed instructions for specific procedures. The instructions include clinical procedures and quality assurance programs.
   1. Parents
   2. Procedures
   3. Policies:
   4. Hand gestures
3. Stress can be a communication barrier. Health-care professionals may experience high levels of stress in their daily work environment. Stress can result from feelings of being under pressure, or it can be a reaction to frustration, anger, or a change of routine. You can minimize stress by maintaining a balance between work, family, and leisure activities, as well as by exercising and eating a healthy diet.
   1. Burnout
   2. Regression
   3. Stress
   4. Silence
4. Learn to recognize anger and its causes. Remain calm and continue to demonstrate respect and genuineness. Focus on the patient's medical and physical needs. Maintain adequate personal space to help the patient feel comfortable. Encourage patients to be specific in describing their feelings, including the cause of their anger and their thoughts about it. Avoid agreeing or disagreeing with the patient. Instead, state what you can and cannot do for the patient.
   1. Some examples of positive communication include
   2. The following are some tips for communicating with an angry patient
   3. The following are some suggestions that can help improve communication with these patients:
   4. Communicating with Superiors
5. Protecting yourself, the medical office, and others from verbal attack. Doing so may make the patient feel the need to discontinue communication.
   1. Defending
   2. Denial
   3. Reflecting
   4. Restating

5 True/False Questions

1. Minimizing feelings → Judging or making light of a patient's discomfort or concerns. It is important for you to perceive what is taking place from the patient's point of view, not your own.

   True        False

2. The Communication Cycle → The communication cycle consists of giving and receiving information. As you interact with patients and their families, you will be responsible for giving information and ensuring that the patient understands what you, the physician, and other members of the staff have communicated. You also will be responsible for receiving information from the patient.

   True        False

3. The following are some suggestions for good communications with superiors → Learn to recognize anger and its causes. Remain calm and continue to demonstrate respect and genuineness. Focus on the patient's medical and physical needs. Maintain adequate personal space to help the patient feel comfortable. Encourage patients to be specific in describing their feelings, including the cause of their anger and their thoughts about it. Avoid agreeing or disagreeing with the patient. Instead, state what you can and cannot do for the patient.

   True        False

4. Anxious patients → It is common for patients to become anxious in a health-care setting such as a doctor's office. This reaction is commonly known as the "white-coat syndrome" and can have many different reasons. Some patients, particularly children, may not be able to express in words their feelings of fear or anxiety.

   True        False

5. Compensation → Disconnecting emotional significance from specific events or ideas.

   True        False