Quality Healthcare Includes Empathy Essay examples -- Healthcare

Quality Healthcare Includes EmpathyA man walks into an emergency room with an intense pain in his abdomen. He is hoping to find a doctor who knows how to serve him. The doctor enters his room and begins robotically palpating his abdomen, showing no hint of recognition for the pain he is in. The man begins to ask himself, Does this doctor care that I am in extreme pain? He then wonders, If he doesnt care that I am in pain, how motivated can he be to comfort my pain? This might seem like a silly question. If the physician didnt care about healing people, why would he become a doctor? Modern technology has caused doctors to become complacent and emotionally detached from their patients. Doctors must be empathetic towards their patients in order to deliver quality healthcare despite the lack of time they have for their patients. The patients perception of the doctor in this situation is that he lacks empathy. Empathy can be described as the ability for one person to unders tand anothers feelings and thoughts. The role of empathy in healthcare is very important more specifically, it is crucial for doctors to be sufficient to effectively express empathy without compromising their primary objective, which is to diagnose and treat patients. While the science of medicine is primarily based on the function of the human body, it cannot be ignored that emotional health plays a vital role in a patients quality of life. Improving physical health allow for inevitably improve emotional health. The appropriate way to approach healing is with an understanding of this concept. In the article Empathy in MedicineA Neurobiological Perspective, Dr. Helen sift statesEmpathetic physicians can obtain critical information and ins... ...tag=contentMaincontentBodyRice, H. (2010). Empathy in medicine--a neurobiological perspective. JAMA, 304(14), 1605. Retrieved from http//drscottwright.wikispaces.com/file/view/Empathy and Medicine - A Neurobiological Perspective.p dfSwitankowsky, I. (2005). From detached concern to empathy Humanizing medical examination practice. Humane Medicine Health Care, 5(2), Retrieved from http//www.humanehealthcare.com/Article.asp?art_id=834Hardee, J. (2010, February 16). The role of empathy in healthcare. Retrieved from http//realbalance.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=143&Itemid=999Torrey, T. (2011, September 13). Web log message. Retrieved from http//patients.about.com/od/therightdoctorforyou/a/docpatientcomm.htmWolfe, S., Carome, M., Barbehenn, E., & Sasich, L. Web log message. Retrieved from http//www.worstpills.org/public/page.cfm?op_id=3