My Favorite Questions On The Oncology Floor At The Johns Hopkins Children 's Center

Marcus Engel emphasized on communication and empathy when dealing with patients in his book, I’m Here: Compassionate Communication in Patient Care. As he struggled to cope with his hospital stay, certain health care providers helped him improve his mental and physical health. He wrote about the doctors, nurses, and other health care providers he met. In his book he mentioned how the behavior and tone of health care providers impacted him. He touched on various topics such as patient privacy, care, and interaction.

Soon-to-be Family Nurse Practitioners may find it exhilarating that the medical field is transitioning toward Patient and Family-Centered Care (PFCC). [1] The construct builds on the basic needs of patients and their families, which includes information, emotional support, and togetherness. The philosophy revolves around tenets of respect, information sharing, collaboration, and participation. PFCC practices aid nurses in building rapport with patients and their families and in turn encourages all stakeholders to participant in the patient’s treatment plan.

patients provide a sense of compassion, “I am sorry you are not feeling well, let me find

Professionalism in health care is of utmost importance, because it involves the delicate relationship between the caregiver, patient, and patient’s family. Patients often confront illness, social disruption, or any other life-changing event and are more often than not presented in a very vulnerable position. They expect healthcare professionals to handle their needs in an expert professional manner. “As a member of this profession, a physician must recognize responsibility to patients first and foremost, as well as to society, to other health professionals, and to self.” (Pozgar, 2012) This is why professional conduct plays such a critical role in today’s healthcare setting. The rapport established between the medical professional and patient is fundamental in providing success to the diagnosis and overall care of the patient.

The medical profession has become so technical that it has lost touch with the knowledge that personal interaction aids in the psychology and recovery of patients and eases the anxiety of their families. With more doctors relying on technological advances in medicine, in some cases, there is no need to even talk to the patient.

After their visit, each patient was asked to fill out a survey that had questions concerning their visit. Questions included, ‘How much did you like this doctor?” and “How connected did you feel to him/her?” Response options followed a 5-point…scale: (1) very little, (2) not very much, (3) somewhat, (4) quite a lot, and (5) very much’(Raket et. al, 1). The average lengths of illness in the different groups were, ‘… 6.51 days in the enhanced group, compared to 6.96 in the standard visit and 6.75 in the no visit group’(Raket et. al, 1). In terms of the amount of empathy that patients perceived from their doctors, the patients in group 3 had the highest measurement. The amount of perceived empathy increased from group 1 to group 2, and from group 2 to group 3. From these findings, it is reasonable to conclude that the amount of empathy that patients perceive from their healthcare providers is positively correlates with the speed at which a patient recovers from illness.

In addition, Kilkelly U & Donnelly M. had highlighted the result of children being interviewed during the research and the importance of their involvement with their healthcare provider’s children, their responses suited the age groups, and the clarifications assisted them to manage their individual conditions. The results revealed that children to be recognized, to be handled with empathy, compassion, and with pleasing manner during their sickness. In this research, the children made important proposals for effective communication. (Kilkelly, U., & Donnelly, M. 2006).

Although, there is an important need to engaging patients and their family members in being instrumental in their medical care and health decisions, acknowledging their needs and feelings, and delivering the compassionate, respectful, and personalized health care to our patients that we would want for our beloved family members and

American Cancer Society presents the value of interpersonal communication and relationships through various methods in different circumstances. For example, the American Cancer Society encourages patients to develop an interpersonal relationship with their Doctors and Physicians. The American Cancer society tries to encourage patients to form an interpersonal relationship with their doctors by being able to freely ask any questions, or bring up anything that concerns them. They also recommend sharing any information that is important for patients to communicate with their physicians and also help patients make the right decisions that are necessary, or more convenient for them. American cancer society not only promotes better care and relationships between patients and doctors, but they also provide numerous programs and activities that patients or individuals can participate in if interested.

Communication, in healthcare, is a multidimensional concept that involves patients, family members, and a health care team. There is a direct correlation with communication, improving a patient's well being, and quality of care. Adequate communication among physicians and their patients is an actively growing research topic. Results supplied by such studies have provided effective recommendations for oncologists and their team. These recommendations include the patient-physician relationship, how physicians utilize medical information, how physicians deal with patient emotions, physician self-management, and educational conferences designed to sharpen communication. Communication is important during each phase of cancer care.

Since last year, I have volunteered at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit and until recently the Emergency Room. My time there has brought to my attention the more unpleasant side of medicine. Whether escorting patients or attending to their needs, I noticed that many of them were quiet and avoided eye contact. Several of the doctors spoke to and treated these patients in a brute manner which I found quite upsetting. These sick or injured patients were worried and scared, and were served with the promise that no one would be turned away. Yet many were silent as they were afraid of “bothering” the doctors. In spite of this, I did my best giving patients some peace of mind by just spending a few moments of my time to chat and to listen their needs as liasion and support. Seeing them smile and at ease has shown me that I have done my job but more

Communication involves “the successful passing of a message from one person to another” (Murtagh, 2007, p.23). Whether it is through body language, listening and spoken word, we continually exchange messages between each other. In most professions, effective communication skills are necessary for the development of successful workplace relationships and foster appropriate, respectful client care (Stein-Parbury, 2012,p.194). In the healthcare field, interpersonal skills are fundamental in building rapport and therapeutic relationships between the patient and other associates (Ross, 2013, p.2). To understand the importance of communication skills, I interviewed a General Practitioner who specializes in Skin Cancer to reflect on these skills

Throughout the course of a year, I had a first hand experience of patients and the inner workings of a hospital. As a courier, each day was composed of handling medication, blood, food, and interacting with patients. A visit to the hospital is not a patients first choice by any means, and this was expressed through multiple emotions such as gratitude towards the staff, irritation due to their situation, or the occasional felon who would express their feelings through the use of expressive language. Their interactions provided an alternate perspective, as the staff would handle each situation with a smile on their faces no matter the circumstance. I truly came to understand the importance of communication between a physician, their staff, and

Through the interactions I have in the healthcare setting, I notice the physicians and other healthcare members are always alert and composed regardless of the situation. I believe paying attention to details is an innate feature, but being observant is a quality I am obtaining throughout my interactions with peers and patients. As I volunteer in The James Cancer Hospital, I realize the importance of being attentive; every patient and visitor I meet, has questions and worries that need to be answered and reassured. Recently, I escorted an elderly visitor to her husband in a post-operating room. On our way, I tried to converse with the visitor about the weather, but she was only giving me short answers. The thing that troubled me was the uneasiness in her voice, so I continued to make small talks about the amenities and resources within the hospital. In one of her responses, she mentioned being in the waiting area for longer than expected. I quick understood her concerns; since most visitors I encountered in this department waited long hours for their love ones, they might feel agitated and anxious when receiving news about the surgery. Although I had no knowledge of the surgery duration, I was able to put her at ease by letting her know that the hospital would have communicated with her about updates from the surgery. I wanted to reassured the visitor; thus before I left the patient room, I described the concern of patient’s wife to the nurse so that the care team can address the issue further.

I had the opportunity to observe patient management and appropriate doctor patient interactions under varying circumstances, from check-ups to end of life planning. Consequently, the most difficult visits to observe were of terminally ill patients as they highlighted the limitations medicine, and by extension the physician, yet I benefited most from these encounters by watching the physician provide realistic expectations and advice while maintaining empathy for the patient. Perhaps the biggest take away was the physician becoming a mentor figure, who took the opportunity to teach basic concepts while providing time to discuss how I was doing at the clinic and with my own inspirations. Furthermore, physician supervised mock visits allowed me