Waiting room boredom is real, and doesn’t appear to be improving. Cartoonists and comedians have had much to say about the long wait times in the healthcare provider’s office, and as is often the case, there is some truth behind these witticisms. A 2018 study found that the average wait time in a healthcare provider’s office in the U.S. is a little over 18 minutes.Until a solution comes along, if one can at all, we have several tips for making your time spent waiting not only tolerable but perhaps even productive and/or enjoyable.
There are many reasons for a long wait time, but that doesn’t make it any less aggravating. Our waiting room survival activities are broken down into things that are enjoyable, practical, funny, or educational, with special tips on waiting with children. Finally, we will talk about why long wait times may occur, and why having to wait for a healthcare provider can be a good sign.
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Enjoyable Activities
Instead of focusing on “losing” time, view your wait as an opportunity to do something you enjoy—something you wouldn’t ordinarily do in a normal workday.
Practical Activities
Humorous Activities
If you are really bored, it may help to resort to some humor. Consider these ideas:
Patient Education
Some researchers have proposed that waiting time wait times are an untapped opportunity. Unless you are being seen for a routine physical, you may have questions about your symptoms or those of a family member. Here are some ideas for using your wait time to support your physical health.
What to Pack in Your Waiting Room Bag
If you only see your healthcare provider once a year, it’s probably not worth the trouble of packing a waiting room bag. But if you happen to have several visits, for example, follow-up visits, consultations, second opinions, or chemotherapy visits, keeping a bag ready may ease the frustration of waiting. Consider packing some of these items:
Another reason to bring your own reading and writing materials is infection prevention, especially if you are immunosuppressed. In a 2017 study in France, researchers cultured magazines found in hospital waiting rooms. Along with normal skin bacteria, they found pathogens (bacteria and fungi that could potentially cause infections) such asStaphylococcus aureus,Enterococcus faecalis,Aerococcus viridans, andAspergillus.
Waiting With Children
Waiting with children can be much more difficult than waiting alone. Consider the appetite and attention span of the typical child. Many waiting rooms provide toys and books, but it can be helpful to pack your own bag. You likely know what activities will keep your child’s attention the longest, and if it’s during flu season, or if anyone in the family has an immune system that’s suppressed, you may wish to avoid the germs that live on waiting room toys. Here are a few ideas for items:
Why the Wait?
It’s sometimes even the case that a longwait time is a good sign. While it’s not always the case, it could be that the healthcare provider who falls the furthest behind during the day is the one who is most compassionate and thorough. The backed-up healthcare provider may be choosing to let patients wait (something that leads to further delays as she needs to apologize to each later patient), and arrive home late for dinner, in order to give a patient the time she would want a family member to receive in the same setting.
Lack of time has often been cited as the a barrier to practicing solid evidence-based medicine in primary care. While it could be argued that healthcare providers should simply schedule more time with each patient, the chance that this is under a healthcare provider’s control is uncommon in modern medicine, at least if a healthcare provider hopes to remain employed.
60 Gifts for Someone in the Hospital
A Word From Verywell
Getting upset about long waiting room wait times is unlikely to benefit your health, and is equally unlikely to change the system. Instead, being prepared and using your time in a way that helps you accomplish a task or at least enjoy your time might be just what the healthcare provider ordered. In so many situations in life, reframing—or looking at the same situation in a different light—can sometimes actually make that same situation become a positive rather than a negative.
3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Vitals Index.9th annual Vitals wait time report released.Arroll B, Alrutz S, Moyes S.An exploration of the basis for patient complaints about the oldness of magazines in practice waiting rooms: cohort study.BMJ. 2014;349:g7262. doi:10.1136/bmj.g7262Adé M, Burger S, Cuntzmann A, Exinger J, Meunier O.Magazines in waiting areas of hospital: a forgotten microbial reservoir?.Ann Biol Clin (Paris). 2017;75(6):673-681. doi:10.1684/abc.2017.1283Additional ReadingSherwin HN, McKeown M, Evans MF, Bhattachryya, OK.The waiting room “wait”: from annoyance to opportunity.Can Fam Physician. 2013;59(5):479-481.
3 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Vitals Index.9th annual Vitals wait time report released.Arroll B, Alrutz S, Moyes S.An exploration of the basis for patient complaints about the oldness of magazines in practice waiting rooms: cohort study.BMJ. 2014;349:g7262. doi:10.1136/bmj.g7262Adé M, Burger S, Cuntzmann A, Exinger J, Meunier O.Magazines in waiting areas of hospital: a forgotten microbial reservoir?.Ann Biol Clin (Paris). 2017;75(6):673-681. doi:10.1684/abc.2017.1283Additional ReadingSherwin HN, McKeown M, Evans MF, Bhattachryya, OK.The waiting room “wait”: from annoyance to opportunity.Can Fam Physician. 2013;59(5):479-481.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Vitals Index.9th annual Vitals wait time report released.Arroll B, Alrutz S, Moyes S.An exploration of the basis for patient complaints about the oldness of magazines in practice waiting rooms: cohort study.BMJ. 2014;349:g7262. doi:10.1136/bmj.g7262Adé M, Burger S, Cuntzmann A, Exinger J, Meunier O.Magazines in waiting areas of hospital: a forgotten microbial reservoir?.Ann Biol Clin (Paris). 2017;75(6):673-681. doi:10.1684/abc.2017.1283
Vitals Index.9th annual Vitals wait time report released.
Arroll B, Alrutz S, Moyes S.An exploration of the basis for patient complaints about the oldness of magazines in practice waiting rooms: cohort study.BMJ. 2014;349:g7262. doi:10.1136/bmj.g7262
Adé M, Burger S, Cuntzmann A, Exinger J, Meunier O.Magazines in waiting areas of hospital: a forgotten microbial reservoir?.Ann Biol Clin (Paris). 2017;75(6):673-681. doi:10.1684/abc.2017.1283
Sherwin HN, McKeown M, Evans MF, Bhattachryya, OK.The waiting room “wait”: from annoyance to opportunity.Can Fam Physician. 2013;59(5):479-481.
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