I think the emphasis on care is especially important in this chapter about health care communication. The book points out that "health care communication ethics seeks to protect and promote care - care is the communicative action or practice that links the good of responsiveness to the Other" (199). The authors continue to write about how when people have fallen ill they are vulnerable and it is important to cater to the needs of each individual patient. I like how they say health care communication ethics should not become a technique that does not work with each individual.
I have had a few surgeries in my life and have seen varying degrees of attention to care. With one of my doctors he was a specialized surgeon and it did not seem as though patient care was at the forefront of his mind. I have heard this is common with surgeons as their main focus really should be on the ability to successfully complete a surgery and there are others, perhaps nurses or general physicians, who spend more time with conscious patients. The common interaction with patients seems to make a large impact on the way they deal with individuals seeking help. My surgeon didn't need to interact with me much overall and a good amount of the time we did spend together I was unconscious on the table. I think this goes to show how even within the health care field, different positions can mean different amounts of interaction with patients and therefore different levels of care.
Seeing this chapter earlier in the semester I could not see the connection why this was important. But now that I have read through the chapter it really hit home. I agree completely that health care communication ethics seeks to protect and promote care and that care is the communicative action or practice that links the good of responsiveness to the Other.
ReplyDeleteTwo years ago my grandfather died and before he passed away his youngest son did not follow health care communication ethics. The last few weeks of my grandfathers life he was convinced to change his unalterable will to leave his third son everything and leave the three siblings nothing and with no inheritance.
I was wrong that this topic of health care communications would not have any connection to me. But as my own experience has shown it does.
I, too, have been the patient in many healthcare settings and have seen the best and worst of how medical professionals treat medically complicated patients and how they approach the good of the Other/patient.
ReplyDeleteIn a particular trip to the emergency room, a doctor was definitely only interested in treating my symptoms and in getting me back on the street; he did not care that I was presenting all of the classic symptoms of my chronic disease. The nurse who took my blood treated me like a moron, and butchered me when she took my blood (I have really visible veins; really, I would feel more comfortable having a heroin addict taking my blood than her, but that's another issue entirely).
My sister who works in the medical profession happened to be there with me, and even when incredibly sick I have a really strong personality pretty ingrained ability to be an advocate for myself. Were it not for her and my stubbornness, the egotistical doctor would not have taken the time to consult the specialist. To them, the good was getting me out of their hospital and feeling good about themselves because I didn't die.
But they called the specialist, I got a CT scan and had to be admitted.
I met the specialist the next day and he said he reamed the ER doctor. He also turned out to be fantastic, and took a holistic approach to my care.
So, in this twenty-four hour period, I lived both spectrums of the experience of being a patient. I learned firsthand how doctors whose perceived good is protecting their ego, and doctors who see the good as taking care of patients holistically and actually problem solving.
It is this experience that solidified the importance of being an advocate for yourself and having one for you when you're at your worst for the good of your own health, and what happens when a doctor others you to the point of minimizing your medical issues.
It is also important to consider that when medical professionals don't take into consideration the good of their patients and behave ethically towards them and take the time to communicate with them as people (versus problems) they can really hurt people. I worry about the ER doctor's patients who don't have strong personalities and/or advocates. I wonder how many people have suffered needlessly because of his arrogance and his gift for treating his ego as his primary good.
ReplyDeleteIt is these things that make me consider being a patient advocate in a hospital system.