Language Conventions
Different English-speaking societies can have quite different rules for how language is used. These rules are not static; they tend to change over time. These rules include the ways in which people are greeted, and the types of jokes that can be told. The rules that govern appropriate use are called 'conventions'.
Think about the conventions you use
When you meet patients for the first time do you call them by their first name, or do you refer to them by their title (Mrs, Mr, Ms)?
Do you introduce yourself as Dr. So-and-so, or do you introduce yourself by your first or familiar name?
Do your answers to the above questions vary according to whether your patient is a child, an adolescent, a young adult, a mature adult or an elderly person?
Question 1 : Have you noticed whether Australians are less formal in their communication? Do they tend to use first names more, and titles and surnames less, than people in other cultures you are familiar with?
Australian society is generally less formal in communication than, for example, most Asian societies. In modern Australia people generally expect to be able to call each other by their first names when they are talking together. However, it hasn’t always been like this – it is really over the last thirty years or so that things have become less formal. So older/elderly patients might expect you to start off addressing them as ‘Mrs’ or ‘Mr’ while younger patients will take it as normal to be addressed by their first name.
For the answer to question two, click here to expand/collapse.
An example may be some one who has severe heart failure with a very poor prognosis. The patient, on getting this sad and distressing news, may say something like: ‘so what you’re telling me doc is the old ticker has had it - not much point buying a lotto ticket next week 'cause I won't be around to spend it!'
(click to play)
Although the patient is being quite humorous, and is making light of the situation, this is not an opening for the doctor to make jokes. The patient is still distressed, but is expressing his or her distress in a humorous way. The doctor still needs to be empathic: 'I understand this news must be difficult to come to terms with. Let's talk more about what this means for you...'