How to build and maintain trusted relationships between pharmacist and patient

Building a relationship based on trust is one of the most important aspects of the pharmacists job description, because if it wasn't for the patients, pharmacists would be out of a job in the first place. From working in a pharmacy the last five years I have been exposed to working with six different pharmacist, each one very unique and different from the others, and yet they all have one thing in common: genuine interest in the care of the patient. Working with people’s medications is a very serious job and it is one that requires the pharmacists full attention and effort, and to do so the pharmacist has to be sincerely passionate about what it is they are doing for the patient. By caring about their patients health the pharmacist should be expected to take their time and make sure that they get to know every patient and try to remember something about them so that the patient knows they were listening. Letting the patient know that you are listening to what they have to say—whether it is right or wrong—is a key point to building their trust because it shows them that you do care what they have to say, and it lets them know that you are there for them. When a patient comes in with a question the pharmacist should take time out of what they are doing, no matter how busy they are, to attend to every patient. By doing so they show the patient that they are their number one priority and that they will make time to help them the best way that they can.

            Making the patient feel comfortable is another way that the pharmacist can build the trust of the patient. Many people come in with different questions, some that are often rather difficult to answer, or out of the ordinary, so the pharmacist must be outgoing and not afraid to answer the patients question. Pharmacists must be very open to sharing their feelings with the patients and showing their concerns for the patients as well. The patients that I have worked with over the years always enjoy their trips to the pharmacy because it takes the edge off of things when the pharmacists that you work with are not only viewed as your health care providers but as your friends. After working on a team of 6 pharmacists you stop feeling like employers who are helping patients and start feeling like a family who is helping to aid their friends. The atmosphere in the pharmacy setting can be one full of trust if the pharmacist and the patients are willing to work together.

            To be able to work together and have constant flow between the pharmacist and the patient the patient has to allow the pharmacist to get personal with them all the while maintaining the practice of professionalism. By getting to know these people and letting them know you remember them, taking care of each and every one of their individual needs shows them that you put their care above all else, and that is what is going to create the bond between the pharmacist and the patient. Even in high velocity pharmacies that fill over 900 prescriptions a day it is still very important that you get to know all of your patients, by taking an extra minute to see how they’re doing and taking the burden of the day off their shoulders, because usually the people that are coming into the pharmacy aren’t there for a good reason so being able to make their days even a little bit better should be one of the pharmacists key ways of building a relationship with them.

• Listening to what the patient has to say no matter the situation
• Giving the patient the benefit of the doubt and trusting what they have to say
• Never making the patient feel inferior
• Explaining things to different types of patients at their level
• Being not only pharmacist friendly but genuinely friendly, creating a bond between pharmacist and patient that is not only work and health related but socially related.

o             Working at the pharmacy the pharmacists that I work with are some of the most well respected people in our community and they are always having people stop into the pharmacy even if they don’t need medications but just to visit with our pharmacists

• Getting to know the patients by name and face, not just by what medications they’re taking
• Remember key details about their lives that are important to them and that you can talk about with them the next time they come into the pharmacy
• Always treating them with the utmost respect because you don’t know what they may be going through at the time and so even if they are treating you in a rude manner just always being the nicest that you can be

·                                 Helping them to understand everything about their medications and making sure that they trust your decision making skills by showing them that you know what you’re talking about and that you are keeping them in your best interest

·                                 Making them smile and laugh, keeping the relationship light hearted and not only about them getting their prescriptions

·                                 Making sure that if they wish you talk in confidence that you let them, showing them that you do care about their trust and keeping their information private because many people have different issues that they are in there for that they do not want shared with others

·                                 Overall, building a friendship yet still working still reinforcing the professionalism of the client pharmacist relationship