What Is Navigating Uncertainty

This study is based on uncertainty management intervention (UMI) treatment option. The candidates for the study were men who are 65 and older with a low stage and grade prostate disease. The UMI study used a system of nursing telephone follow-up care to help patients with their psychosocial and educational disease needs (Kazer, Whittemore, & Baily, 2010). The nursing intervention with the patients focused on “helping the patients examine illness-related events and restructure their beliefs… to incorporate uncertainty into a new life view.” (Kazer, Whittemore & Baily, 2010) The nursing intervention’s goal was to create a cognitive plan from events that are uncertain and use the plan to change their view of the uncontrollable situation presented to them.

Self-awareness is another important aspect to consider during this stage. I try to prepare myself for the encounter with a patient by clearing my mind from any distractions/stresses caused by previous consultations, so that I can focus entirely on the new patient. Walsh, Crumbie and Reveley (2004) explain that consultations can be stressful and emotionally draining and, in a busy clinical environment, it is easy to hang on to charged emotions from a previous encounter. Kaufman (2008) agrees that before the patient arrives in the room the practitioner should deal with, or at least acknowledge any negative feelings or stress.

Uncertainty reduction theory is “the point of view that uncertainty motivates communication and that certainty reduces the motivation to communicate” (Wood, definition). This theory was first developed by Charles Berger. He believed that when people are to meet for the first time they have a high level of uncertainty and the only way for them to reduce it is to communicate with one another. “They don’t know what each other likes, thinks and believes; how each other responds to certain reactions, and they’re unsure what each other expects or wants from interacting” (Wood,184). There are three prior conditions that are meant to help individuals want to reduce uncertainty.

There are pro’s and con’s to every decision that we make. Every action has a reaction. That has never been more true than in the healthcare setting. Our patient’s put their complete trust in us that we are going

This issue of full disclosure to patients regarding errors and information about treatment is delicate. On the one hand, patients have the power to exert their autonomy in making decisions about their health. On the other hand, doctors are responsible for educated and informing patients and the community regarding issues. I believe that, taking into consideration both sides, doctors are responsible for providing all information necessary for a patient to make a fully informed decision. In addition, full disclosure of errors is vital to ensuring the patient maintains autonomy in his or her life.

My personal experience is that it is hard to comprehend what the doctor is saying. Much of the vernacular and procedures are complex, which is intimidating to me as a patient. I often times do not feel that I can make the best decisions given the information from my doctor. This is not to say that the doctor is not properly informing me. Rather, it feels as though I do not have the same knowledge and experience to make a decision autonomously. It is without question that I simply

Uncertainty could potentially mean many things. Uncertainty could mean that you are unsure if you patient will survive the procedure, if the prescribed medication will work, or if you made the right judgment call. All of these factors determine the efficacy of a physician, and it is important to be prepared for all types of situations. As most doctors who have years of experience in the field know, uncertainty is a principle that applies greatly to medicine. We may not know how, or when, this uncertainty occurs but we do know that it is an obstacle we must face. I think that the best way to be ready for uncertainty is to be prepared. By continuing to educate oneself on new diseases, treatments, and alternative approaches a physician can make

Dr. Ubel’s lecture was not only thought provoking, but also terrifying. I try to stay away from doctor’s visits and hospitals at all costs. I have only been in the hospital once, and that was to have my adenoids removed. Though, when I go to the doctor’s office, I place most of my trust in the doctor’s decisions. My view of doctors is the 1970’s view that they can do no wrong, and their decision is always final. From this lecture though, I realized that I need to start thinking for myself, and have a game plan for every possible scenario if bad news arises. I need to start asking any and all questions that I have, because there may be treatment options that the doctor isn’t telling me, because they thought I didn’t need to know. Furthermore, if I don’t ask questions, then they might assume that I know every bit of information that was presented to me. Like Dr. Ubel mentioned in his lecture, most of the time people leave the doctor’s office confused, on top of just hearing devastating news. Doctors tend not to make sure that their patients understand the information, and have them recite it back to them in their own words.

Since February 2016, I have worked full time with over 60 physicians, both MD and DO, in Virginia and Kentucky. Throughout each shift, I accompanied the various providers to patient rooms and documented the stages of their care. As I watched the ER procedures and listened to the provider conversations, I learned that there are multiple ways to treat a patient and obtain desirable results. Since there were so many doctors to work with, I witnessed different bases of clinical treatment from various perspectives. While some doctors based most of their treatment personalized medicine, others focused on evidence based medicine. Doctors also often offered to teach about radiology results, procedures and clinical testing to used confirm their thought

He first explains that young physicians face challenges due to uncertainty that arises when they first begin seeing patients. He classifies this uncertainty of collective knowledge as either, uncertainty of a, “physician’s own knowledge of medicine”, and or as uncertainty of “our collective knowledge”. He makes a good point that often people feel that experience and hard work can help us overcome this uncertainty, but this isn’t the case in terms of a physician. In other words he says that young physicians often hind it hard to balance the two components of medicine, they struggle with applying the knowledge to an individual patient. In my opinion, this makes perfect sense. After all while doctors need to be trained in the depths of physiology so that they have a crystal clear understanding of how the body works so that they can distinguish diseases and prescribe the correct

have different views, some people think that the tension between doctors and patients can not

The greatest challenges I will have in becoming a Physician is knowing that in the future I will have full control of someone else's life and whether they live or die, knowing that at one point my career it is possible that I could have a mistake that will cause someone to die, and that I have to be the person who informs a family that we did everything we could to save their loved one’s life, but to no avail. However, I am combating this challenge by using it as encouragement to keep learning and keep studying. The more I learn throughout my education, the more knowledge I will have in the future while treating patients. I also use these challenges to pressure myself into doing everything at the best of my abilities and given 110% to everything

Contemporary literature reflects the growing need to reinvent the traditional ways of practicing medicine.3 Accurate clinical judgement is the goal of every physician’s practice. Decision making deals with the processing of information. Technological advances have allowed the current physicians to control

Each day to day event creates endless possibilities to emerge, an afternoon of rain can lead to an enjoyable afternoon of jumping in water puddles or having mud fights with neighborhood friends but for another that same rain could lead to a broken ankle from slipping on a wet floor. Risk as defined by Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2014) is "situations in which it is possible but not certain that some undesirable event will occur." Each choice that is made has a certain amount of risk involved, we weight the amount of perceived risk against the possible positive outcomes to determine whether that risk is acceptable or not. The medical profession, just like any other profession, deals with a certain amount of "risk." It is the job

It’s no secret that we are living and working in complex, unpredictable times. Accepting that is one thing, but what we all want to know is how to deal with it. By definition there are no longer any “best practices” that can guarantee success for an organization; there are only good practices that we can stumble upon through experimentation. Add to that the fact that success in itself is a continuously evolving state, and you have to wonder, “How do I lead in an environment like this?”