Humans thrive on communication and societal interaction. The interaction between people be it between family members, teachers, and students or between two groups of people is crucial as it establishes understanding and brings people together making them appreciate other people’s company. Establishing contact between a doctor and patient is one of the most essential and satisfying aspects of being a doctor. It is also a necessary aspect for patients as it makes them feel heard and understood. Most hospitals you visit today, a doctor quickly listens to a brief description of the illness or symptom and from the small report, the doctor formulates a treatment and see’s you off. This leaves a lot of patient dissatisfied and a little intimidated by the hospitals, more so, doctors. Rita Charon tries to establish that this is not what medicine should be like at least from the doctor’s perspective. She describes the urge to listen to people’s narrative as being the key driving factor that pulled her to become a doctor and treat people. She establishes in her book, Dividend of Narrative Medicine that listening closely is essential for a better doctor/ (nurse)-patient relationship as it makes them feel valued and understood.
Dr. Charon’s view suggests that making contact boost the patient eagerness and willingness to heal both emotionally and physically. It is also why most people who venture into medical studies decide to become doctors. According to Mandy Oaklander, most hospital operations today have changed drastically with the computerization of hospital procedures, doctors are doing more work in front of their computers screens than being communicating with their patients to be able to understand them. As Oaklander further establishes, “Of the many physicians who used electronic health records, 44% were dissatisfied with them, and nearly 63% of doctors believed that EHRs made their jobs less efficient” (2016). It essentially makes the doctors distant and indifferent to their patient as they have too much work to concentrate on one specific task. This phenomenon is described as burnout. Charon describes her method of approach as the most efficient. She states that carefully listening to the multiple patient narratives that are contradictory but in the end being able to join the dots and establishing a tangible solution for the patient is one of the key aspects that motivate doctors to become more involved in their patients healing journey (Charon 2006).
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In a commentary by The American Journal of Medicine, there are several factors that contribute to burnout, they are as a result of too much work and they result in doctor’s lack of, “accomplishment” and “enthusiasm” in their day to day practice since they have become “depersonalized” from their patient hence cannot maintain track of their recovery process. According to the journal, “Continuity of care historically provided the necessary bonds that regenerated the early career feelings of scientifically based benevolence that attracted most doctors into the healing arts (Alexander MD, 2018). This reason is why Charon states that listening to your patient is essential in the healing process, it not only enables the doctor to absorb what was said, appreciate the connection but also become more concern and direct with the patient in regards to the person-to-person communication. Listening to the detailed account of a patient’s narrative is essential in building a bond. Here Charon suggests that clerical work is the key suspect in reducing the doctor-patient relationship established.
I agree with her point of view; medical practitioners should not be transformed into clerical officers as they derive their joy from becoming a part of their patients’ lives. This is what they studied, and it is what they signed up to do. It is also one of the key reason that has resulted in burnout among doctors as they become less caring towards their patient and more engrossed in the work they perform. Establishing a trusting relationship with patients in such instances become an uphill task. Allowing the patient’s narrative to build up and flow proves useful and establishes better and more professional practice.
References
Alexander, A., & Ballou, K. (2018). Work–Life Balance, Burnout, and the Electronic Health Record. The American Journal Of Medicine , 131 (8), 857-858. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2018.02.033
Charon, R. (2006). Narrative medicine . New York: Oxford University Press.
Oaklander, M. (2016). http://time.comDoctors Are Burned Out by Busywork: Study. Retrieved from http://time.com/4383979/doctor-burnout-electronic-health-records/
