Ethics: The impossible patient Flashcards
Health care providers are…
Pressured to perform, smart, respectful, compassionate, caring, compulsive
Impossible patients are…
Impossible to please, ornery, overly agreeable, threatening, critical, demanding, manipulative
How do we see the world?
Based on our concern, anxieties, knowledge, fears, beliefs, hopes and inclination to maintain self-esteem
What are the steps in Maslow’s hierarchy of need from top to bottom?
Self-actualization Esteem Love/belonging Safety Physiological
What do we need for self-esteem?
Respect, control, safety
What is projection/ transference?
Projection typically occurs when patients feels need to share emotions through making another person feel the same way
What is empathy?
Relational phenomenon where an observer leaves their own frame of self to understand someone else’s
Why do some move away from being empathetic?
Feelings of discomfort Ability to manage personal feelings while staying professional Don't know how Takes too much time No feeling to display
How can you better empathize with a patient?
Identify the patient’s feelings
Use empathic language
Do not get angry or backlash
Identify a good quality in the patient that you respect
