In any line of work, it’s only a matter of time before you may begin to experience challenges that take a toll. For clinical medical assistants, aside from performing clinical and administrative tasks, they often have to navigate around difficult situations involving their patients. Here are some of the challenges that medical assistants face on a daily basis.
Difficult Patients and Family Members
On any given day, clinical medical assistants can encounter dozens of injured or ill patients and concerned families. Patients are often dealing with pain and discomfort, and everyone reacts differently. Medical assistants, from time to time, are subject to individuals with poor attitudes, explosive outbursts, and more. From refusing to get up and walk, to resisting medications, to complaints about how they are being treated by the medical staff, some patients, family members, and other visitors can be difficult to manage.
Regardless of the situation, these instances can be challenging for clinical medical assistants to navigate. It is important to remember that you shouldn’t take these issues personally, and you must maintain your professionalism at all times.
Challenges with Communication
As they are often the first person a patient interacts with, clinical medical assistants must be excellent communicators. From helping patients fill out insurance paperwork to explaining what their examinations, procedures, or treatments will entail, medical assistants must be comfortable with discussing a wide range of topics with patients and their families.
Be aware that some topics are difficult to talk about. In some cases, clinical medical assistants are responsible for telling patients that they must make lifestyle changes, such as losing weight or quitting smoking, to improve their condition. While this advice will benefit them in the long run, patients may take offense and respond with rash or irrational behavior.
In other circumstances, medical assistants are tasked with delivering unfortunate news. For example, they will need to inform patients of complications they are facing or tell families that they have lost a loved one to an injury or disease.
Perhaps most commonly, medical assistants must know how to provide reassurance to patients and families who are experiencing anxiety during their visit. Whatever the case may be, the right career training, like the program offered by Prism Career Institute, will equip medical assistants with the skills they need to handle any difficult communications.
Prepare Wisely for Your Career in Healthcare
Our Medical Assistant program covers aspects of the profession beyond clinical and administrative responsibilities, as our knowledgable instructors will navigate you through how to handle all of these potential challenges. Apply online to become enrolled at our Cherry Hill or West Atlantic City campuses in New Jersey, or contact Prism Career Institute today for more information on how we’ll prepare future clinical medical assistants to handle all aspects of their careers.