pain

I saw the mother’s eyes dripping with mud

On her dusty knees, hands  dripping in blood

A pain so great tore a hole in her agonized soul

Her light went off today, shadows are everywhere

No one fully understands the pain but her

Sweet baby got her angel wings today

She’s in the sun, the wind and the rain

She begged him to let her go see her sweet angel one more time

She was willing to put her own life at risk for that 1 glimpse

He looked at her and felt nothing, nothing at all

How dare he? What happened to his heart? Is he the devil?

What happened to the human race?

I guess everyone dies anyway huh!

Reflection

Empathy can be defined as an experience of understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings and condition from his or her own point of view rather than from one’s own (Davis,2010). Empathy facilitates helping behaviors that come from within rather than being forced. The poem above is a combination of Chrisy Ann Martins poem “heaven’s child” and my own lines.I have chosen to use this poem because it tells a story about what happened during one of the days when I was in a clinical setting.

One day I walked into the physiotherapy gym going to have a session with one of my patient when I looked on the other side I saw another patient sitting on the plinth crying, she was one of my colleague’s patient . I went to her and ask why she was crying but she was not saying anything. After a few minutes of the trying to comfort her she started crying even louder I was very concerned about what might be the problem, I went to call one of the nurses that is usually around and she did not want to come but I kept on begging her until she agreed. When we got inside the gym the nurse mentioned that she is crying because she lost a 15 years old daughter a few hours ago, She was involved in a car accident. The daughter was admitted to the who emergency room in the same hospital but she was unable to see her due to her being on a critical condition. The patient then stated that the doctor does not want to discharge her so that she can go home and be around her family members and she does not know why because she feels better.

I immediately felt so bad for the patient and just tried to imagine myself going through what she was going through at the moment alone with no loved ones around.  The nurse suggested that the other student continue with the treatment and ignore her crying which did not seem right to me. I asked why she can’t come for physiotherapy later and the nurse indicated that the doctor will not agree to that plus patients cry all the time anyway which showed that she was not even trying to understand what the patient was going through. After a few minutes the doctor came looking for the nurse and they had a conversation for a few minutes upon finishing my colleague asked why the doctor can not discharge the patient since she is not in a life threatening state and he said that people die everyday she must as well just let the dead bury each other and care about saving her own life. I was very shocked upon hearing his response and it just made me realize that sometimes people do not really think about the impact of their words can make on other people. I was very angry inside because as a health professional you have to also think outside of your scope of practice and also consider the patient’s emotional wellbeing , I wanted to tell the doctor not to be so rude and insensitive towards the patient but I was also holding back because I am just a student and he has been working in this hospital for many years.  I felt like as a student I do not have power to say that because I am still learning how to do my professional duties , I also felt like the doctor will think that I am being disrespectful and rude towards him although he may know that the way he talked was very unacceptable especially in front of the patient.

It is important for a health professional to be aware of patient’s mental states and understand another person’s feelings, Lack of sympathy has a negative impact on patient’s treatment and satisfaction. Empathy is very crucial in the healing process, patients respond better to  provider who is empathetic and understanding, understanding makes a patient feel respected and validated this  contributes to patient participation during treatment(Schilesman,2016). Emotional pain is as important as physical pain as it can lead to other secondary complications that require physical intervention. Empathy is associated with more successful outcomes for patients(Schilesman,2016). As health professionals it is important to also consider the emotional aspect of the patient not only the physical sometimes patients are more emotionally damaged than physically. Before a person think about their professional titles it is important that we are humans before that.

References

Davis,A, J.(2010), Ethical dilemas in nursing. Western journal of  Nursing research3(4), 397-407, USA

Schilesman,E.,E. (2016). Patient’s empathy & Effects on Health Outcomes. Minnesot State  University Mankado, Retrieved from http://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds