Case Report
A Case-Study of the Anatomy of a Miscommunication: Why colleagues as patients develop complications?
Colin Pritchard* and Jeremy Latham
Published: 17 August, 2018 | Volume 2 - Issue 1 | Pages: 008-011
This is an anatomy of a miscommunication, written by the patient, a medical school professor and his orthopaedic consultant, who was also a colleague leading to a series of misunderstandings. This raises the practical question of who is responsible for effective communication with the patient who is also a colleague. At the pre-operative assessment a combination of the diffidence of an inexperienced nurse and the patient’s wrong assumptions about his post-operative mobility and his keenness to maintain his independence and identity nearly led to a delayed discharge. The miscommunication was due to the patient’s assumptions about previous orthopaedic and recent cardiac surgery hospital experience. Neither he nor the nurse checked these assumptions and we speculate might this possibly account for why senior colleagues who become patients sometimes have unexpected complications. There are lessons to be learned from this frank exploration of the colleague patient’s experience of a miscommunication.
Read Full Article HTML
DOI: 10.29328/journal.cjncp.1001006
Cite this Article
Read Full Article PDF
Keywords:
Patients; Professional communication; Responsibility; Independence
References
- de Vries EN, Ramrattan MA, Smorenburg SM, Gouma DJ, Boermeester MA. The incidence and nature of in-hospital adverse events: A systematic review. Qual Saf Health Care. 2008; 17: 216-223. Ref.: https://tinyurl.com/y8pck343
- Aoki N, Uda K, Ohta S, Kiuchi T, Fukui T. Impact of miscommunication in medical dispute cases in Japan. Int J Qual Health Care. 2008; 20: 358-362. Ref.: https://tinyurl.com/ydclelga
- Pritchard C, Brackstone J, MacFie J. Adverse event and patient safety in the operating theatre: Perspectives of 549 surgeons. Annals of Royal College of Surgeons. 2010; 92: 1-4. Ref.: https://tinyurl.com/y79lut38
- Weinert M, Mayer H, Zojer E. Skilled communication as "intervention": Models for systematic communication in the healthcare system. Anaesthetist. 2015; 64: 137-144. Ref.: https://tinyurl.com/y9u79vwl
- Raman J, Leveson N, Samost AL, Dobrilovic N, Oldham M, et al. When a checklist is not enough: How to improve them and what else is needed. Journal Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery. 2016; 152: 585-592. Ref.: https://tinyurl.com/y7vv4hzv
- Chief Medical Office. Making Surgery Safer. CMO Office. Dept of Health. 2007.
- Chan SW, Tullocch E, Cooper ES, Smith A. Informed Consent: The Montgomery Judgement. British Medical Journal. 2017; 357: 1-3.
- Riedl D, Schussler G. The influence of the doctor-patient communication on health outcomes: A systematic review. Psychosomatic Medicine & Psychotherapy. 2017; 3: 131-150.
- Halkett GK, Jiwa M, Lobb EA. Patients' perspectives on the role of the general practitioner after receiving an advanced cancer diagnosis. Eur J Cancer Care. 2015; 24: 662-672. Ref.: https://tinyurl.com/ycn4dyf7
- Hamilton M. On Informed Consent. British Journal Psychiatry. 1983; 143: 416-418. Ref.: https://tinyurl.com/y9nrou8z