I had an experience today that I thought should be shared because it was such a powerful lesson. Yesterday, I had to attend a customer service training session that showed a video of a man talking about the loss of his son due to a med error. He did not want to sue the hospital, but wanted to use the opportunity to teach the staff what could have been better about the handling of his son's case. He said two things that stood out-Statistics make no difference to a family member when their loved one lay dying, and that a healthcare professional should never assume what a patient can understand about their family member's condition.
Today, I was working med/surg and was caring for a man who was not improving despite aggressive treatment of his condition. We spoke with the POA and it was decided that comfort care only was in order. Everything seemed to be in order, but some more family arrived and the POA was unable to explain to them why comfort care only was being given. Some felt we were "killing" him. I called the MD and arranged a family meeting, but by the looks on their faces, they were still not understanding. The MD was using a lot of jargon and statistics about his chances of survival. After she left, I stayed and slowly explained lab results and other things in plain English. After about one hour, one family member caught me and told me how "outstanding" I was that I took the time to listen to their concern and that I didn't treat him like a statistic.
It's a powerful thing to know you've made a difference in someone's difficult situation, particularly when the easy way would have been to simply say, "they just won't get it.". I'm glad that the training made me more aware of jargon use, and that a family may rest easier knowing absolutely everything was done to try to save their loved one.
