Asking checking questions requires patience. A patient needs to be given time to think and answer. If the patient is silent, the impulse of the health care worker may be to answer the question or quickly ask a different question. The patient may know the answer but be slow to respond for several reasons. The patient may be giving a wrong answer. The patient may be timid. The health care worker should wait for an answer and give encouragement. Sometimes the patient may give an incomplete or unclear answer to a checking question
