Developing rapport with a patient who is "known as" grumpy

I was referred to a patient that other team members had trouble connecting with.

So i went and me the patient and introduced myself and my role etc.
My initial thoughts were oh my golly shes going to be very hard to connect with and work alongside. I thought this because she basically insulted me and said i was probably un educated like all other NZ children.

When i first met her she mentioned that she was English - and i notice she spoke very fast and prober. So i though prehaps if i asked her more about where she came from and her background this may help me develop a working relationship. We got talking and soon enough she was asking me questions in reciprocal. I spent time getting to know her and we got on to her interests and what she enjoyed doing. As we talked i gradually changed the topic from what she enjoyed doing to when she did it and then we began talking about her home and how she spent her day. I felt like we had a good conversation going and i was able to take her lead and talk about her home environment along the way.

Thinking about this later on..i think if i went in to see her and just asked questions about her home environment in a rather structured way i wouldnt have got the depth of information that i got and i wouldnt have found out about her as a person and her interests and needs.

It was very clear to me that this patient was very fussy and particular. But i feel after we had had that initial contact that gave us something to continue talking about next time i saw her. We began talking about the ships that came from England (as she was very interested in English literature and history) and my great grand father cam over on one of those boats - so we had a connecting point.

Anyway i learnt that it may take more time but you will get a better result if you do take the time to find out about them and let them guide the converstation.

This patient from my percpetion wasnt grumpy at all she was just particular and i think that may just have been part of her culture.