Is Being Nice Part of Being Ethical as a Healthcare Provider?

Being on the other side of the healthcare equation is always illuminating.  That is, last week I was a patient at our institution having major, elective, abdominal surgery.  Most of the care I received was kind and humane, but when it was not the negative effects were not small.  Before I “go negative” I would like to say that every nurse I encountered treated me with respect and empathy, and most did not know I was an attending physician. But now to the negative.  An attending anesthesiologist came into my pre-operative cubicle to interview me prior to the surgery.  She started speaking very softly, and she asked me a question that I could not understand.  I told her I was hearing impaired, and that I needed her to speak up a bit, and she responded with a snort of derision.  I was shocked, and I looked over at my wife who seemed to have read the situation the same way.  She then proceeded to speak too loudly for the rest of the interview, and then stood there silently for several minutes filling out paperwork before just turning and walking out.  “Can you request another anesthesiologist,” my wife asked.  “Do you think you can trust her to take care of you while you’re asleep?’  I had no answer to these questions, and while it follows logically that her rude behavior does not directly impugn her clinical skills, she sowed a seed of doubt in my mind that even Versed (the pre-ope...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care empathy medical education professionalism syndicated Source Type: blogs