I’m just thinking… Dr. McCoy is known to not have a very good bedside manner, but I’m not so sure that’s entirely true. What I think happens is that some of his patients, such as his good friends Kirk and Spock, can be uncooperative, like insisting they’re fine to go back on duty when they’re clearly not, trying to escape sickbay, and giving him a bit of a hard time in general. This makes McCoy have to be firmer, and makes him a little grouchy.
But we know that he is compassionate and can be soft too. I think he’s like an “all bark and no bite” type, meaning that he can sound irate while he’s telling a difficult patient to, for example, “lie the h*** down or I’ll have to sedate you,” but his touch is gentle, and he takes extra time to check people’s health status the old fashioned way, not fully relying on computers. He truly cares about people, and honors his oath to the best of his ability. He will even refuse life saving aid to himself if it would cost the other person their life. (See “The Empath.”)
Therefore, I would say that patients who listen and cooperate better with Dr. McCoy would experience his nicer bedside manner, as in showing more of his soft side.
Who agrees?