Health Care’s Compassion Crisis: Caring Makes a Difference
Hospitalists care for a variety of different types of patients, serving anyone and everyone in need of acute care. Because of the nature of our work, it is difficult to maintain empathy and compassion for all of our patients, especially in light of our unpredictable workload, long hours, and high stress. Social science research has found that providers’ concerns about becoming emotionally exhausted might lead them to reduce their compassion for entire groups of patients, such as mentally ill or drug-addicted patient populations. Caring Makes a Difference
This may seem like an obvious question. After all, most of us want to feel cared for when we experience difficulty. It is comforting to know that when we are going through an illness, our care providers can relate to us, put themselves in our shoes and do everything in their power to help us.
But beyond these self-evident reasons, there is another argument for why compassion matters. It turns out that providing compassionate medical care may lead to better patient outcomes.
Moreover, we must leave our empathetic abilities to guide us through our work, we should develop our compassion as a gift everyone can use.
How many doctors have become cold and distant after losing their freedom and being forced to work as small cogs in a big machine? How many students have become unenthusiastic or demotivated before even getting their medical degree? This is a pedagogical mistake due to a depersonalizing education system: unconcerned and unable to give full support to students, leaving them alone and without a role model.
Scientific literature proves that this argument can be applied both to single professionals and organizations. Personality, values and behavior reflect individual performances, which are the road to failure or success for each organization. The doctor-patient relationship is part of the healing process. Caring Makes a Difference.
