3 steps to confident consulting: how to run successful nurse clinics
Tell me if you’ve ever thought this…
“I’d love to run nurse clinics but I don’t feel confident enough to start them.”
“I’d love to run nurse clinics but I’m worried I won’t know the answer to the client’s questions.”
“I don’t think I know enough to support my clients”
Well, let me tell you that you don’t need to have all the answers to run a successful medical nurse clinic.
Don’t let the fear of not knowing enough stop you from offering these to your clients - they’re an amazing resource and you’ll increase your confidence and knowledge simply by doing these clinics and gaining experience!
In this post, I’m going to share 3 things that really helped me start consulting confidently - from mindset shifts, to preparation and tools which will help you structure your clinic.
This week I’m also running a free challenge aimed at helping you Consult with Confidence - and if you’re reading this the day this post goes live, you’ve got one day left to save your spot as we start tomorrow!
You don’t need to know everything
Spoiler alert - you don’t have to know everything to be able to run clinics confidently. Our clients just need to know that you care and want the best for their pet.
Read that again.
Yes, we are offering support to patients with complex diseases. But that doesn’t mean you need to swallow a textbook!
Our clients want us to know they care. So look at your clinics this way - how can you work with the client to provide the best possible care for their pet? What does that look like in the clinic, and what does that look like at home? And then use the information from that assessment to formulate your nursing plan.
Of course, there’s no denying that having a good understanding of the patient’s disease will help you feel prepared for your clinic and feel more able to handle client questions but there is a difference between that and knowing everything. Don’t let the fear of not knowing enough stop you from starting - you're a trained, qualified, registered (or nearly qualified and registered!) professional, and that gives you a great place to start from.
Your energy introduces you
It’s actually pretty easy to appear confident without necessarily feeling confident.
Ever heard the phrase ‘your energy introduces you before you even speak’?
It’s all about the delivery.
Communication is a vital part of this, so take the time to build rapport with your clients, introduce yourself, greet their pet, and really listen to what they’re saying (and don’t be afraid to clarify anything they’ve mentioned that you want more information on!)
Have your space prepared, have all the equipment you need for your clinic ready in advance, have resources to signpost your clients to, and have an idea in your head of how you want to structure and run your clinic (keep reading to find out more!)
By acting confident, you will feel confident - and the more clinics you do, the more confident you’ll feel.
So before your clinic starts, take a second to check your space, feel ready, and remind yourself that even if you don’t feel 100% confident, the only person who knows this is you - your clients will still get immense value from the advice and support you’re giving them.
Structure your clinic
It’s no surprise that a clinic runs way more successfully if you have a framework or a structure to follow.
Why’s this important? Well, with a framework we can make sure that we’ve:
Collected all of the information we need from our clients to get a picture of their pet’s health
Performed a thorough examination of the patient
Collected any samples required under veterinary direction
Provided advice and support to the client
Answered their questions
Signposted them to tools and resources which will help them further
Identified any concerns and made a plan for how those will be followed up
Trying to consult without an idea of what you’ll do in your clinic is like trying to make a pizza without cheese - most of the elements you need will be there, but it just won’t be as good as it could be!
So, my take home messages for confident consulting? Trust yourself and your knowledge (and if you want to increase your knowledge, of course that’s fine - but believe in yourself too!), prepare for your clinic in advance as much as you can, communicate effectively, and create a structure or outline to follow in your clinic to make sure all bases are covered.
If you want to learn more about confident consulting, you’ve still got time to join me this week for the free Consult with Confidence challenge! Join me in the dedicated challenge facebook group for 3 days of live training, with daily actions to help you create and run clinics confidently in your practice. Pop your email address in the box below to sign up and all the details will be sent straight to your inbox!
Saved your spot? DM me on Instagram and let me know! I can’t wait to see you there!
