12 tips for giving patients bad news

My partner Judith had pain in her sinus cavity caused by a tumor called a plasmacytoma. After her biopsy, her surgeon called Friday afternoon with the results. She asked him to wait fifteen minutes until I could be home with her to get the news. He had no flexibility and said he could speak either then or Monday. She chose to speak with him then on the phone still alone. He confirmed that the tumor was cancer of an unknown type. She hurried to the hospital to get more tests to learn what kind of cancer it was. That was a really bad day. Judith and I both work in the health care system. I am a palliative and acute care chaplain, and she is a physical therapist who worked in a managing chronic pain clinic for many years. We thought we were prepared when we walked into the oncologist’s office several weeks after that phone call to hear the results of the bone marrow biopsy. We hoped it wasn’t, but thought it likely was Multiple Myeloma (MM), an incurable rare blood cancer. Even so, the final diagnosis of MM that day was devastating for both of us. Our lives were changed forever. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Conditions Hospital Palliative care Source Type: blogs