Emily Sopko, CNP, on her approach to patient education and counseling in urology

In this video, Emily Sopko, CNP, discusses her approach to patient education and counseling. Sopko is a nurse practitioner with University Hospitals Urology Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.

Transcription:

What is your approach for patient education, especially for conditions that might cause embarrassment or anxiety?

I think, again, I'm really in a unique position, because I came from bedside nursing, where you just see people when they're at their lowest, and always giving them the sense of, this is not something that nobody else has ever been through. I can't necessarily relate to it, but how many other patients have I coached through this with? Trying to keep a little light of things. I mean, that's the whole schtick in urology, right? You have to have a good personality to get to know your patient, get them to open up to you, actually tell you what their problem is, so that you can help them find a solution or get to the next step. Because urology, at the end of the day, to me, yes, there's cancer, but there's also so much quality of life, which is something that drew me to the specialty in general. I came from working in palliative care, and I really enjoyed helping people feel the best they could. This is another way to be able to do that.

Attitude is a big part of it. I think trying to get level set and say, "This may seem embarrassing, but I promise you, I'm not thinking less of you because of it. I'm wanting to help you so you can feel more confident about your life when you walk out of this hospital." That's probably the biggest thing that I would say to somebody who's interested in urology is, do you think you can get on another patient's level? Can you treat them with dignity and respect? Because that's what it comes down to when you're dealing with this body system; you really just have to respect the patient.

This transcript was edited for clarity.