"Narratives" or stories have been used throughout the history of the human race to allow and help people to express themselves in ways that promote personal growth and enhance physical well-being. Even in the simplest of contexts, narratives are a core factor in the advancement of the humanity/society and all of its facets. An illustration of this can be seen in the transfer of a family 's lineage, history, and values from generation to generation. This allows for the recipient of this information to have a greater knowledge of his/her own family and the history surrounding it. Oral narratives and writings, such as journals, stories, or speeches to others are stress-relieving mechanisms that can reduce the external stress. The narrating of …show more content…
25) For the average human, listening to stories as told through the body of an ill person is not exactly anyone 's idea of a good time. These stories told are, on most occasions, easily neglected or brushed aside by listeners because of their own feeling or thought of the possibility that they too might one day be afflicted with a disease or illness similar to the sufferer. "Listening is hard, but is also a fundamental moral act; to realize the best potential in postmodern times requires an ethics of listening. In listening for the other, we listen for ourselves." (Frank, pg. 26) In lesser words, this statement depicts the need to listen as a moral act. In a sense, it is a person 's duty to listen to the stories of the ill. In doing so, one can more fully comprehend the story being told and in turn, be able to relate in some way to the patient. This allows for a more full understanding of what the patient is going through and opens the eyes of the listener in ways that are beneficial for him/her. This way of thinking often deteriorates when the listener is not just a friend or family, but the appointed physician or doctor.
Narrative ethics is a term that has recently been abundant in the field of medicine. The term "narrative ethics" is often used in union with how a physician listens or goes about listening to a patient 's story. It is easily understandable, that after years of practicing medicine, a physician may grow indifferent to the many stories told by
When asked what trait a physician bears in the 21st century, most would agree with compassion. Pierre Elias author of the narrative essay, “Insensible Losses: When The Medical Community Forgets The Family”, argues that physicians may be compassionate when it comes to their patients, but “lack a systematic approach to communicating with families when a patient’s health deteriorates unexpectedly, requiring a change in care providers” (Elias 707). Pierre Elias is a medical student from Duke University. He is nearing the end of his clinical rotations when he is forced by his inner moral conscience to deliver difficult news to a patient’s family whom no other physician makes time for.
In the essay Defending My Life, author Geov Parrish tells the narrative of his personal experience with the medical field and healthcare industry regarding life-saving organ transplants in which he underwent. Throughout his narrative he brings up many key issues present in current day medicine that relate well to our BEST medical curriculum. The first issue involves behaviorial aspects of medicine and the importance of the patient’s perspective in care. The next issue involves the social and ethical dilemmas relating to the cost of healthcare and adequate access to proper care.
Prominently featured in the mission statements of virtually of every medical school and medical institution in the world is the call for empathetic doctors. These institutions wish to train medical professionals that possess qualities of sympathy and compassion, and hospitals wish to employ health professionals that showcase similar qualities. The reality, however, is starkly different, as physicians, jaded by what they have seen in the medical world, lose the qualities that drove them to medicine in the first place. In Frank Huyler’s “The Blood of Strangers,” a collection of short stories from his time as a physician in the emergency room, Huyler uses the literary techniques of irony and imagery to depict the reality of the world of a medical professional. While Huyler provides several examples of both techniques in his accounts, moments from “A Difference of Opinion” and “The Secret” in particular stand out. Huyler uses irony and imagery in these two pieces to describe how medical professionals have lost their sense of compassion and empathy due to being jaded and desensitized by the awful incidents they have witnessed during their careers.
Medicine is a science of healing, but also an art. It takes intelligence in the sciences as well as precise skill in the art of medicine to heal successfully. In the Hippocratic Oath, Hippocrates highlights the importance of passing on the tradition of practicing medicine, maintaining respect for patients, and preserving humility within themselves. Modern day practice of this oath involve patient’s stories. Rita Charon in her article “What to do with Stories? The sciences of Narrative Medicine,” explores narrative writing and how to use it as a tool in healing patients. While Charon focuses on the writing of these stories, Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal reflects on how to make more meaningful endings out of the stories of patients who
A doctor’s mind and heart are very much involved in the patient’s road to recovery. Evidence in support of this statement is shown in William Carlos William poem “ The Red Wheelbarrow, and his essay “The Practice.” Also, in Jack Coulehan poems “The Man with Stars Inside Him, The Six Hundred Pound Man,” and the article “What’s a good doctor and how do you make one?” Individually, each reading and poem has expressed doctor’s emotions with their patients, and what characteristics have guided them into becoming a good doctor. The readings are a representation of how doctors are in fact remorseful when it comes to their patients. While reading these articles, I realize that doctors have been restricted to how much emotion they are allowed to show. All doctors have their weaknesses and their strengths, and they should be vocal about them especially when it comes to treating their patients.
The doctor-patient relationship always has been and will remain an essential basis of care, in which high quality information is gathered and procedures are made as well as provided. This relationship is a critical foundation to medical ethics that all doctors should attempt to follow and live by. Patients must also have confidence in their physicians to trust the solutions and work around created to counter act certain illnesses and disease. Doctor-patient relationships can directly be observed in both the stories and poems of Dr. William Carlos Williams as well as in the clinical tales of Dr. Oliver Sacks. Both of these doctors have very similar and diverse relationships with multiple patients
In conclusion, Person introduces two conflicting opinions of the main message, medical ethics. However, there is a bias towards Jenna’s initial view, and the opinions of Lily and Alleys. Overall, the author uses this book as a way of showing us the ever-more relevant debate of medical ethics, but wants us to make our own decision of what view to
An invention as an insight into the means of the sick to become a restored person. The understanding of this narratives serves as the beginning point for disease narrative ethics (Frank, 2013).
A patient is a human being. Illness disturbs biological, social, psychological elements that make the patient human. It is not enough to centre and diagnoses and decisions on scientific data and empirical fact; medicine is about much more. The focus of this paper is to make the argument that the practice of medicine is a discipline that requires human empathy as well as scientific data and empirical fact to establish diagnoses with emphasis on five components of the physician-patient relationship: patient’s experience of illness, physician-patient communication, and proficiency of end of life care, medical ethics and spiritual growth. This position will be supported through the film “Wit (Nichols & Brokaw, 2002)” through the character Vivian Bearing 's revelation that illustrates a patient’s struggle with death and in the process exposes the distinction between medicine and science.
Rutledge says, “Stories have always been a primal form of communication.” From cavemen drawing pictures of stories on walls, to bedtime stories being read to children, sharing experiences through stories is a primary method of human communication. For example, oral storytelling is Chinese tradition. Stories and fairy tales are passed down from generation to generation to share morals and ideas, family history, legends, and warnings. For instance,
According to Healthy People 2012 there are more then 800,000 new cases of diabetes each year, with the numbers on the rise. With this in mind, Healthy People 2012 has identified diabetes as their number five focus area. In order to reach their goal of improving the quality of life for people with diabetes they have identified diabetes teaching as their number one objective. Furthermore, in order to reduce the number of complications of diabetes, Healthy People 2012 has identified foot ulcers as their ninth objective. Through patient education Healthy People 2012 hopes to reduce the number of foot ulcers in people with diabetes, as diabetes is the number one cause of nontraumatic amputations in the United States. In order to
Lying in medicine seems to be a requirement for doctors because they think that truthful information can hurt patients (Bok 222). According to doctors, while they are telling the truth, patients may have a heart attack or their psychological mechanism might be alleged. Furthermore, death comes more quickly. However, these are so rare and considering these universal is an overgeneralization. In addition, doctors consider their patient as a child and see them like a blind, suffering and passive toy (M.Smith and M.Weil 22); hence, doctors think that they can make choices for their patients without telling the truth to patients. However, this opinion just shows doctors’ paternalistic view (Bok 227).
Sometimes some doctors do not give enough time to listen their patient. Back in 2011 I had moderate car accident, my pain was mild. I do not remember when the doctor ask me how sever is my pain but after few hours observation they/ED decided to d/c me. The nurse told me the prescription is sent direct to pharmacy, l may pick it up on my way to home. When l went to pharmacy, I found out MD prescribed percocet 10/325 and hydromorphone 8mg po PRN. I was shocked, why the Dr orders the strongest medication 1st? Anyhow I did not take it, instead l bought motrin from overthecounter, it was effective enough to control my pain at that time. If I was not a nurse I would definitely take the narcotics 1st then I might suffer because of the quenceqience.
A twist on the "patient's perspective" approach is to describe a time when medicine failed to save or heal someone close to you. The purpose of this tactic would not of course be to rail against the medical profession, but rather to show how a disappointing loss inspired you to join the struggle against disease and sickness.
Storytelling has been the central method by which events were transmitted from generation to generation in most societies. It allows the transmission