A provider's willingness to listen meant as much as the care she received
October 11,
2024 0 22
In early 2024, one of Nurse Practitioner Kulwinder “Nikki” Deol’s patients decided the time had arrived to finally share with the world exactly how she feels about her Manteca-based CMC provider of the past two years.
“Miss Deol actually listened to me after years trying to get doctors to listen to me and I greatly appreciate her for taking the extra time and care to treat me,” the patient wrote on CMC’s comments section on the NRC Health website. “She has been such a great provider for me, and I hope I can continue having her. And if she reads this ... you are the Dr. I hope to be one day :) you are everything Miss Deol!”
The female patient, who preferred her name not be used in this article, spoke about Nikki during a recent interview. And it turns out that in addition to being a Nurse Practitioner and CMC’s QI & EHR Clinical Lead, Nikki is a pretty good tutor, too. The patient (we’ll call her “Kim”) recently was preparing to take her exam to become a Registered Nurse, and she was nervous. Nikki provided a calming voice and also proved to be a source of good advice.
“She basically told me, ‘Keep doing the questions over and over and over,’ ” Kim recalls. “I did that, and I actually ended up passing the exam on the first try.”
Kim is now working at her first nursing position, at a physical rehabilitation site in Stockton. Nikki says getting to know patients as people, not just as a set of symptoms, is an integral part of being a provider.
“I firmly believe that if you build some kind of connection, if you build a personal connection with the patient, you build trust,” Nikki says. “When you have trust, then you have everything, and patients will respect your opinion, they will respect what you have to say, and respect your recommendations.”
When Nikki first met Kim, she understood right away that the stress of nursing school could be playing a role in the symptoms her new patient was experiencing. So, in addition to being a provider, Nikki knew she needed to be a good listener.
“A lot of what I did for her was not medical,” Nikki says. “I want to say it was just human. I listened to her. I was empathetic with her. I didn’t give her much advice. I just listened to her for the most part. I kind of gave her that space to speak her thoughts, which is what made her feel comfortable.”
Kim says, “She really listened to my concerns and what I had to say about my health. She ended up ordering labs, and everything just ended up working out. She really listens to her patients and what they need. When somebody needs a recommendation, I always say, ‘Go see Miss Kulwinder, she’s a really good provider.’
“I wanted to be in medicine, but she definitely impacted me to be that type of provider. I want to listen to my patients. I definitely took a lot of cues from just listening to her talk to me, being really patient. I’m going to implement that now with my patients.”