Curiosity and compassionate care: rehumanising the admission clerking

Smith gives a tender account of the nurse who took an interest in her mother’s life and the profound difference this made.1 Are there small nudges we can make to spark curiosity about the patients we encounter in a busy clinical environment? I have approached this question through an indirect route: admission clerking.While working as a senior house officer, I became aware of how dehumanising hospitals could be for people with advanced dementia. Admission clerking notes could contribute to this: “Bedbound. Dependent for all activities of daily life. Doubly incontinent. Multiple falls. Unable to give history.” After admission, other clinicians would use these notes to orientate themselves before meeting the patient, foregrounding their “case” and their disablement.I experimented with a different approach to writing clerking notes for patients who could no longer tell their own stories. I began notes with a brief anecdote told by a patient’s family member. For…
Read Original Article: Curiosity and compassionate care: rehumanising the admission clerking »