Empathy Flashcards
How would you define empathy to someone who doesn’t know what it is?
Empathy is being able to understand another person’s feelings or situation and imagining what it might be like to experience these things yourself.
Why is it important for medics to be empathetic towards their patients?
One reason medics should be empathetic is when imagining how a patient is feeling in a situation you may be more likely to consider all the factors. This can reveal ways to improve the patient’s care which may not have been considered before.
Being empathetic can also increase your rapport with a patient and make them feel more comfortable. They then might find it easier to trust you and honestly share their situation and concerns with you. This is very important because it means as a doctor you have a deeper insight to be able to provide high quality care. Building this trust is essential as it’s one of the NHS constitutes to ensures the public maintains trust in doctors.
Being empathetic is important because it’s a way to show the patient that you are taking the time to understand their feelings and expectations because you’re interested in their mental well being as well as their physical.
Overall, showing empathy can help a patient understand they’re valued, especially in a daunting environment, which upholds the role of a doctor to maintain respect and dignity and be compassionate.
Can you learn empathy though a lecture?
I think you can learn some very insightful points on empathy through lectures.
For example, you can learn about what steps are involved in empathy like listening, recognising other’s emotions, removing judgement and then trying to understand how you would act if you were in the same situation.
You can learn about situations when empathy is most needed, for example, when a patient is going through a really difficult diagnosis.
You can learn about the value of empathy and how as a doctor it helps your patients feel more comfortable and respected therefore allowing them to be more honest with you.
You may also learn about how empathy plays a role in situations you didn’t expect. For example, as a doctor you not only need to show empathy to patients but to your coworkers and people in you multidisciplinary team. This can help improve communications in the workplace therefore leading to a high quality of work.
I think empathy is a skill best developed with practice in real word situations. However,
On the other hand there are many aspects of empathy you can only experience in real life.
For example, it may be hard to empathise with difficult emotions of a patient if you haven’t gone though a similar situation before.
You may learn that you have to show empathy in situations you didn’t consider before. For example, showing empathy during a conflict. This may be difficulty because you as you have to put aside you personal feelings to empathise and resolve the conflict.
Overall I think it’s important to learn abut the concept in lectures but you can only fully develop empathy through practice in real world. This is because you have to remember there is no textbook method and set out things to say to show you are empathising with someone. If you only try to recreate ways to act empathetically from lectures you’re not really showing respect.
What’s the difference between empathy and sympathy? / Which is more important in medicine, empathy or sympathy?
Empathy is being able to understand another person’s feelings and imagine how words or actions can impact them whereas sympathy is feeling sorry for the situation someone is facing and responding affectionately.
Doctors are responsible for delivering the best possible care and I think empathy is highly important in this process because it can increase your rapport with a patient and make them feel more comfortable. They then might find it easier to trust you and honestly share their situation and concerns with you. So being empathetic shows they are valued and that you care about there mental well being as well as their physical.
however, you can also say that sympathy is important because it can help a doctor communicate more compassionately with a patient. A doctor with sympathy may better help comfort patients, especially in daunting situations.
Overall, as a doctor you have a responsibility to display beneficence and treat patients with respect and dignity according to the NHS values. I think sympathy may have limitations to achieve this because using sympathy you are only responding how a patient is feeling but not understanding and trying to resolve issues in their health. Sympathy may also come across as pity whereas empathy helps shows you value the patient. This helps maintain their dignity.
Tell us about a time you have showed empathy?
client, no adjourned, fast time appointment
I believe that my friends and peers would describe me as an empathetic person.
For example, during times of tension in my friendship group, I often found myself as a mediator helping to calm the situation. I believe what makes me good at doing this is my ability to be egocentric.
Furthermore, last summer, I helped out during the year 6 summer school. This was a week long programme that aimed to help the year sixes to become confident with the idea of entering high school that September. I formed close bonds with those within the group I was in charge of. I was sensitive to their body language that allowed me to know whether they were fitting in, feeling anxious e.t.c.
I formed a friendship with one of the girls who I felt like would struggle to adapt to the new environment. By doing this, she grew confident during the week even making close friends.
The mother of this girl in fact works at my school and showed her gratitude.
This made me happy that I actually made a positive impact to someone’s life.
Why Should Members Of A Healthcare Team Show Empathy Towards One Another As Well As Towards Their Patients?
Working in healthcare can be very demanding as you have to manage stressful workloads, dealing with uncertainties and sometimes difficult patients. As colleagues we may be in the best position to be empathetic to our peers and support them.
Extra-professional circumstances can impact on somebody’s ability to do their job, and if they choose to share problems or concerns with you then it is important to show empathy and try to understand what they are going through.
A better understanding of one another improves a team’s ability to work together and therefore improves patient care. Working in a hospital can be traumatic or distressing, and this may affect team members personally. Having empathetic colleagues can make them feel more positive and that they are well supported in their work.
Imagine That You Are A Medical Student On A Hospital Ward Placement.
How Would You Explain To A Patient That They Need To Have Another Blood Sample Taken, As The Results Of The Last Test Having Been Lost?
be clear what the mistake, apologise, ask them how they’re feeling, empathise, ask if they’re ok to continue, put a not of fear of needles.
As A Doctor, How Would You Deal With A Parent Who Has Brought Their Child Into Accident And Emergency And Is Angry About Them Having To Wait A Long Time To Be Seen?
sorry for the wait,
I understand how worried you may be
long waiting list - maybe patients with emergency, all have to be treated equally
do u think waiting time has caused more harm, your son is fine
What Would You Say To A Female Patient Who Is Scared To Get The HPV Vaccine Which Protects Against Cervical Cancer?
explain pros and cons
ICE - needles, side effects, misinformation?
competency - not really but age
autonomy
As A Recently Qualified Junior Doctor, You Are Given The Chance To Perform Your First Unsupervised Colonoscopy.
During the procedure, the colonoscope perforates the colon, resulting in the patient becoming acutely unwell and dying just two days later. The patient’s family has now come to see you; how would you approach the situation?
senior
heist calm sit the down quite room explain.
What Thoughts And Feelings Will Go Through The Head Of A Patient After Having Been Told That Their Alcoholism Has Led To Irreversible Liver Damage?
Balme themselves - therapy , helpless - options, angry -
