The woman stood by her elderly mother's bedside glaring and visibly upset. She suddenly shouted, "I am not putting my mother through any more suffering!" The attending physician, three residents, and I had just entered the hospital room for rounds. The four of us froze where we stood, taken aback by the woman's outburst. Without waiting for a response, the woman immediately launched into her list of grievances. She accused the nurses of having given her mother the wrong treatment; she stated that she had been waiting the entire evening and morning to talk with a "real doctor," and that she had not been updated about the results of overnight blood tests. At the end of this she leaned back against the wall, out of breath and exhausted, her face flushed with anger. Her eyes scanned each of our faces suspiciously.
Nurses had warned us before entering the room. The daughter, they said, had been adamant about eschewing the current treatment plan. We were told that both the patient and the daughter had been consistently rude and demanding to nurses and staff. We had been told that they were "non-compliant" and "difficult." We were also told that, during the night, the daughter had gone so far as to hurl a container of a prescibed topical drug at a nurse's head.
Several seconds of silence lapsed after the woman's outburst. Her words hung in the air. The anger was palpable and raw. Then I heard the physician's voice. It was soft, but steady and calm - "You have been through so much. If I were you I would be angry, too." The woman blinked, taken aback by the statement. Her face, which only a moment ago had been set with a steely and hardened glare, softened. She nodded quietly and looked away. For the next 45 minutes the physician laid out the plan for care and treatment, agreeing to compromise in the face of some of the patient's concerns. At the end of this discussion, the patient and her daugher apperared exhausted, but relieved. The stress from months of cancer treatment showed clearly on their faces, now unmasked by the dissipated anger.
Humanism in medicine involves the recognition that patient's are more than their diagnoses and lab findings. Physicians who embody humanistic medicine are realistic about the limitations and challenges of patient care. They do not seek to impose medical knowledge and advice upon patients and their families. Instead they strive to serve as a partner and guide in navigating the uncertain terrains of health and illness.
Sandy Tun
UICOMP Class of 2013
