Sunday, April 11, 2010

Our Stories are Different -- Yet the SAME!!

Below is a link to a story written by a friend and colleague of MITSS. It is an extremely powerful story. Click the title to access Babel: The Voices of a Medical Trauma.

For me personally, this story encompasses a lot of the things that I speak about often. I will highlight a few of them.
•We are all vulnerable when we become patients.
•It's extremely difficult to question/stand up to the medical
community in times of crisis.
•We need to help the medical community to let go of their
pre-conceived notions.
•The emotional toll has to be addressed!
•Patients consistently want four things:

1.They want the truth and in a timely manner.
2.They want either an apology or acknowledement (depending on the situation)
3.They want to know what the institution is going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
4.They want SUPPORT!! Support can be different things to different people – this is where open honest communications comes in – so you know what each person wants and needs.

I hope you all take the time to read this article. There are a lot of lessons to be learned.

1 comment:

  1. I fully believe in the tremendous benefits of the apology. I witnessed this first hand between a courageous physician and a family who lost their daughter through medical negligence. The healing power was remarkable and an honor for me to observe. For the full story on this, please see my blog "When Saying 'I'm Sorry' Helps to Heal" www.victimrights.wordpress.com.

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