The above short poem by Rupi Kaur from the book Milk and Honey which I chose as my piece of art for this ethics task.
The above poem with the accompanying artwork, to me, illustrates the relationship between any health professional and the patient. The poem is short and yet effective in bringing the message across. The poem can be seen in different contexts but in the context of a patient and physiotherapist relationship, the poem illustrates how the patient would present with their condition and in need of help and the physiotherapist would be there to assist where applicable. In addition, the short poem offers emotion of the patient by making use of the word “cry” which bares a negative connotation; this highlights that the patient’s problem or condition has not only affected the physical health of the patient but their emotional one too and that the physiotherapist should be aware of this. The response line in the next stanza of the poem illustrates emotion in the form of empathy towards the person who spoke in the first stanza (the patient) and the response shows a physical connection to the patient where the response says: “I hold you”.
Reflecting on the poem and picture in terms of my own clinical experience; I would say it is applicable as many a times I have experienced a situation where the patient presents as very demotivated and cannot quite seem to figure out what exactly is causing their pain. In most cases such as these, I focused more on the patient’s physical pain rather than checking on their emotional state or providing them with some form of consolidation to what the underlying reason for their pain could be. Therefore, I feel the poem is appropriate to illustrate that a physiotherapist or any health professional should not only care for their patients for what is on the surface but to acknowledge the fact that some patient’s pain is caused by an underlying fact such as emotion. It could be said that there should be a professional boundary between the patient and the physiotherapist in terms of emotional attachment and how the physiotherapist reacts to the patient’s condition and/or situation but through reflecting on the picture, I can now say that in the past I have focused solely on the surface of the patient’s pain and condition and emotionally detached myself from the patient but now, I see the importance of a more holistic approach when treating the patient and the value of emotional support.
With regards to ethics in clinical practice, the picture illustrates the ethical duties of a physiotherapist and all other health professionals such as: to act in the best interest of the patient, to provide the patient with the information they need to make an informed decision and to promote access to healthcare. These are but some of the ethical duties to patients which illustrate the importance and relevance to the above poem. Health professionals take the Hippocratic Oath to first do no harm and to treat the patient to the best of one’s ability as well as to conserve the patient’s privacy (Medical Definition of Hippocratic Oath, n.d.) but if the patient is being treated at a superficial level for their condition, are we truly living up to that oath? We may be doing no harm by promoting health care on a physical level but continued lack of emotional support leads to harming the patient on an emotional and deeper level.
With this said, medical practitioners need to address the patient not only on a superficial level but as holistically as possible as in most cases, the patient’s symptoms are as a result of a deeper routed issue which lends a hand to the emotional and mental aspect of the patient’s health. This is an aspect which is often left out and should be addressed as it complies with ethical principles and the oath taken by health professionals.

References:
Guidelines for good practice. N.d. Retrieved from www.hpcsa.co.za/Conduct/Ethics on 20 October 2018.
Kaur, R. 2014. Milk and Honey. Andrews McMeel Publishing. New York.
Medical definition of Hippocrates Oath. N.d. Retrieved from https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=20909 on 20 October 2018.