Help Ease the Patient’s Anxiety
For the most part, there is little that you can do to help reduce the anxiety patients feel when they are facing any diagnostic test. Even if the ultrasound is to reveal the sex of their unborn child, there is still a certain level of anxiety that should be anticipated. If the ultrasound is for something potentially more serious such as searching for cancerous lumps in breast tissue or diagnosing a troublesome gallbladder, the anxiety is well deserved. To help ease the anxiety your patients feel, be sure to speak to them. Acknowledge their fears and let them know what to expect from the procedure. Maintain a positive demeanor, even if you see something troublesome on the ultrasound screen. If allowed by your facility, you can point out areas of interest — “here is your intestine, you can see the lining here.”
Make Your Patients Comfortable
Many facilities take this suggestion as far as they can by painting ceiling tiles into beautiful art or decorating rooms with interesting things to look at. During an ultrasound, you can make sure that the room is nice and warm since your patient’s skin will be exposed and slathered in ultrasound gel. If able, you can dim the lights and play soothing music. If you cannot alter the environment, you can make sure that the table that will be used is clean and comfortable, provide your patient a pillow and a sheet, or if your facility allows, you can also provide a warmed blanket!
Use the Right Ultrasound Gel
Two of the four things that people remember about the ultrasound experience include the ultrasound gel itself! Remembering how cold the ultrasound gel was is an easy, avoidable memory! Warmed ultrasound gel is an easy way to make the ultrasound experience more comfortable and increase patient satisfaction. Additionally, using ultrasound gel that remains viscous for the duration of the procedure helps to keep things smooth (literally) and reduces friction and pull on the patient’s skin. It also helps to prevent reapplication, which saves your facility money. When ultrasound gel remains smooth and jelly, it prevents drying, flaking, and that uncomfortable sticky residue once the gel has been wiped off and the procedure complete.
EcoVue® Ultrasound Gel by HR Pharmaceuticals is a high-quality, affordable ultrasound gel that is able to boast its revolutionary features. Unlike other ultrasound gels, EcoVue® maintains its acoustic velocity, even when heated for patient comfort! The 99% natural formula lends to a thinner, lighter gel that spreads more evenly and doesn’t lose its efficacy during the procedure but cleans up easily. Additionally, you can put your patient’s minds to rest because EcoVue® is safe to use on even the most sensitive skin. It contains no parabens, or Propylene Glycol (PG), and is fragrance and dye free.
When you have the right tools, you can improve the patient experience, the patient outcome, and improve patient satisfaction scores for your facility. Overall, this means more business for your facility and higher quality of care. Warmed, quality ultrasound gel should be the standard of care for all ultrasound procedure patients. If your facility does not already stock EcoVue® Ultrasound Gel, request a sample today so you can experience the EcoVue difference.
