It is vitally important to clarify any ambiguous statement the patient might produce in order to ensure we understand exactly what the patient is trying to tell us. This ensures that the patient is correctly understood and prevents us from making incorrect assumptions or traveling down incorrect diagnostic pathways

Ensure precision, clarity and completeness

• Open: ‘Could you explain what you mean by light-headed?’
• Closed: ‘When you say dizzy, do you mean the room is spinning around you?’
• Clarify: time/date, sequence

Exercise: Reflect on some common phrases patients say that are inherently vague (e.g. I’m feeling dizzy), and how you might clarify what your patient means

Silverman, J., Kurtz, S., & Draper, J. (2013). Skills for Communicating with Patients (Thrid Edit). London: Radcliffe Publishing.