The smile is stronger than the handshake

Abstract

Healthcare providers struggle with the timing of handwashing and the handshake during the visit with patients, we question whether the handshake is even a necessary component of the modern introduction. The Physician-Patient relationship is strongest when built on trust, and typically begins with a traditional handshake. The importance of hand hygiene has become an integral part of the patient encounter. Taking a break for hand-hygiene interrupts the natural flow of the initial introduction and non-verbal body language to our patients. In current time constrained visits, we focus on handwashing instead of on continuous eye-contact with our patient. It is arguable that the elimination of the handshake may allow one to focus on more culturally acceptable universal verbal and non-verbal communication skills that help us to build essential trust with our patients.

Keywords

• Handshake
• Handwashing
• Nonverbal communication