By Third Law: When in doubt, stop and shut up.
Take a step back and look at what’s going on (do you sense a theme here?) if something isn’t working out as you’d like it to. If a patient is becoming fractious or a doctor is getting annoyed, stop what you’re doing, don’t say a word and just wait. People will tell you what they need if you give them the chance to do so. Sometimes what they need most is for you simply to be present without doing anything. Sometimes they just need you to look interested and keep your ears open.
