When kindness is clinical:
HEALTH PROFESSIONS INDEMNITY
When kindness is clinical:
The power of bedside manner
By Alanna Bollweg, PPS Health Professions Indemnity Claims Consultant
Poor bedside manner is one of the most overlooked but common triggers for malpractice accusations. While technical skill is essential, the way patients and their families are treated – through empathy, communication and respect – often determines whether concerns escalate into formal complaints or legal claims.
In the early hours of a Sunday morning, a young Master’ s student woke in excruciating pain. Her eyes felt as though they were burning from within, swollen shut and extremely sensitive to light. Terrified that she might be losing her sight, she struggled to seek help. Eventually, she managed to make her way to the emergency eye unit, where a team of empathetic healthcare professionals met her. Despite a full waiting room, they immediately applied eye drops to relieve her pain, allowing her to open her eyes. The relief was almost immediate and although there was a wait ahead, the kindness of the reception staff made the experience more bearable. They regularly checked on her pain levels and the reassuring gestures helped make the time pass more quickly. The patient soon learned her pain was caused by accidentally burning her eyes during a UV lab experiment. Though the situation was stressful, the compassionate care she received made it far more bearable.
Soon after, the student’ s mother was admitted to a different hospital – where her experience, unfortunately, was markedly different. The nursing staff repeatedly refused to change her mother’ s adult diaper and exhibited a dismissive attitude toward the family. Despite numerous attempts to speak to doctors, the family struggled to get any meaningful communication or updates. This lack of coordination and care created an atmosphere of confusion and frustration.
The situation took a turn for the worse when her mother was suddenly rushed to high care and had to be resuscitated. Astonishingly, the family was never notified of the emergency. On a later visit, a different family member arrived at the hospital, only to find a stranger in the patient’ s bed – unaware that the student’ s mother had been moved. The lack of communication left the entire family shaken.
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