Death is an inevitable part of life. Consequently, many physicians are faced with the difficult task of conveying news about a terminal illness to their patients. Some of the physicians claimed to be inadequately prepared for this task while others fear that conveying this distressing news will adversely affect the patient-physician relationship and cause the patient emotional distress.
In the movie, The Doctor which directed by Randa Haines in 1991 tells the story of Jack McKee played by William Hurt who is a highly-skilled surgeon with a lousy bedside manner, superficial relationships with his colleagues, a troubled marriage and a frail connection to his young son. In the course of the film, Dr McKee himself is diagnosed with cancer of the vocal chords, and the doctor discovers patienthood. The process is enormously uncomfortable for him, as he experiences a sharp decline in autonomy and everything that goes with it, and he begins to develop empathy for those he always scorned.
Before having his own experienced as a patient, he would not allow himself to go near the state of neediness. Dr McKee treats his patients with aggressive sarcasm and general disrespect. “There is a danger in becoming too involved with your patients,” he warns his residents, reminding them of the surgeon’s credo: “Get in, fix it, get out. ” As Dr McKee had been diagnosed to have a laryngeal tumor by Dr Abott. In this scene, his life slowly changed as he experienced himself to be a patient in his own workplace. Dr Abott informs Dr McKee and his wife that his tumor is malignant.
Dr Abott seems ill at ease. Furthermore, she has an authoritarian personal and always been very busy. Neither Dr McKee nor his wife seems satisfied with the encounter as their real anxiety and concern has never been dealt before. The way Dr Abott conveys that makes malignant tumor, shows that she has a very low patient-physicians communicating skill. She should build rapport between the patient and herself first to gain the patient’s trust. Then, she should have conducted a patient-centered interviewing. She should have been Death is an inevitable part of life.
Consequently, many physicians are faced with the difficult task of conveying news about a terminal illness to their patients. Some of the physicians claimed to be inadequately prepared for this task while others fear that conveying this distressing news will adversely affect the patient-physician relationship and cause the patient emotional distress. In the movie, The Doctor which directed by Randa Haines in 1991 tells the story of Jack McKee played by William Hurt who is a highly-skilled surgeon with a lousy bedside manner, superficial relationships with his colleagues, a troubled marriage and a frail connection to his young son.
In the course of the film, Dr McKee himself is diagnosed with cancer of the vocal chords, and the doctor discovers patienthood. The process is enormously uncomfortable for him, as he experiences a sharp decline in autonomy and everything that goes with it, and he begins to develop empathy for those he always scorned. Before having his own experienced as a patient, he would not allow himself to go near the state of neediness. Dr McKee treats his patients with aggressive sarcasm and general disrespect.
“There is a danger in becoming too involved with your patients,” he warns his residents, reminding them of the surgeon’s credo: “Get in, fix it, get out. ” As Dr McKee had been diagnosed to have a laryngeal tumor by Dr Abott. In this scene, his life slowly changed as he experienced himself to be a patient in his own workplace. Dr Abott informs Dr McKee and his wife that his tumor is malignant. Dr Abott seems ill at ease. Furthermore, she has an authoritarian personal and always been very busy. Neither Dr McKee nor his wife seems satisfied with the encounter as their real anxiety and concern has never been dealt before.
The way Dr Abott conveys that makes malignant tumor, shows that she has a very low patient-physicians communicating skill. She should build rapport between the patient and herself first to gain the patient’s trust. Then, she should have conducted a patient-centered interviewing. She should have been with the physician and may help the patient develop trust thereby ensuring a stronger patient-physician relationship. In addition, by using non-verbal communication often can ease the anxiety and reassure the patient that he or she is not alone in this process.
Finally, planning and follow-up process. During the meeting, the physician should explain future plans and any tests that will be done. They need to discuss potential sources of emotional or supplemental support and if necessary, make a referral to hospice. It would be beneficial to both patient and physician if this process of disclosure and planning were to take place during multiple visits or meetings since many patients and family members require repetition of the news in order to completely understand the situation.