Imperative 4 To be honest. Nothing can shatter a relationship more quickly and more completely than dishonesty. To be sure, we do not hit people over the head with the truth they are not prepared to hear. That would be cruel. We must rigorously avoid a self-serving deflection of crucial issues and truths in order […]
honest, gentle and kind … Read More »
Imperative 6 To be joyful. Laughter and joy can be a more effective medicine than anything we hope to produce in a laboratory. The joy of medicine was given to me by my patients. I will always remember the day I sat in the bedroom of a hospice patient who was surrounded by his immediate
Imperative 7 To be knowledgeable. There is so much I don’t know that if I had a lick of sense, I would use my medical diploma to line my kitchen cabinets. The single greatest sin I can commit as a physician is to know not and know not that I know not. To be knowledgeable,
to be knowledgeable … Read More »
Imperative 8 To be courageous. Courage is contagious. The defining moments of history have been immortalized because common men and women inspired others with their courage and together they all accomplished the seemingly impossible. No one and no thing must ever cause us to shirk our duty to a patient who relies on us to
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Swetenham et al and Hegarty etal study the impact of refractory suffering on the interdisciplinary team. “Refractory suffering – that is, suffering that persists unrelieved despite all attempts by an interdisciplinary team to ameliorate it, is one of the most difficult and challenging aspects of palliative care practice. Its effects on clinicians have been documented.
the precarious nature of the team when challenges are faced … Read More »
Imperative 9 To be strong. Strength has a resolute spirit that stands in spite of overwhelming obstacles. We can become a source of strength to our patients and their families. They can draw strength from us. If we are willing to hold their disappointments, their fears, their guilt, not succumbing to desperation, even when that
to be strong … to be weak … Read More »
Imperative 11 To be authentically human in our encounters with patients and families. To be effective, I must be willing and able to throw off the protection of the white coat and be fully human at the bedside. So often I hear professionals say that they just wouldn’t know what to say to a patient
embracing our own humanity … Read More »
Imperative 12 To recognize and believe in the Supremacy of Spirit. Our personal religious convictions–or lack thereof–must never cloud our awe at the great miracle of the spiritual realities that come breaking forth as patients approach death. We must be prepared to help patients and families address the great spiritual questions of life: Who am
witnesses and partners … Read More »
“Health is not a commodity. Risk factors are not disease. Aging is not an illness. To fix a problem is easy, to sit with another suffering is hard. Doing all we can is not the same as doing what we should. Quality is more than metrics. Patients cannot see outside their pain, we cannot see
a measure of my days … Read More »
One who truly discovers and lives the experience of powerlessness and solitude does not remain alone. Only one who has experienced powerlessness to its depths,and hence personal solitude, feels close to others and is easily drawn to them. Like someone lost, without shelter in a storm, he or she feels his or her cry at
only one who discovers & lives their need … Read More »
