Compassion & Empathy
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Kindness. Kindness and respect. It’s a large part of patient welfare but sadly not practiced by all.
A patient should be able to show emotion, to be upset, to be frustrated…and most importantly to be SCARED. They are not able to run away from their disease…leave for the day and forget about it. A hospital admission often means an intrusion on their physical, emotional and spiritual self. Privacy is violated. Safe boundaries are stripped away. Dignity is forgotten. Sleep deprivation. Feeling so horrifically unwell and powerless.
Health professionals should be EMPOWERING patients in their treatment plans.
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REPEATING TERMS AND LABELS THAT CAUSE OFFENSE AND UPSET TO THE PATIENT is a classic example of having not engaging with compassion nor empathy.
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How often RUBY was told it was all in her head, dismissed so rudely, ignored and left to suffer. And yet if it had been all psychological , still left untreated and emotionally unsupported.
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I am so proud of how my daughter behaved throughout her admissions and community care. She never failed to thank people, behave graciously and very rarely became angry. Upset yes, when not being listened to, but never raging anger. She was always caring and nurturing to others overwhelmed in the wards.
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She was literally fighting to be alive, with a knowing that it was not to be in a large part because of not being heard. Ruby wrote that all she wanted, was to live !!! Refer Ruby's diary notes....RUBY'S STORY.