Death and the practitioner
Viles, L.
Respiratory Care 45(12) 1513-1519; Discussion: 1520-1522
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0020-1324 PMID: 11107217 Document Number: 6496
In the interest of maintaining a balance between work and home life, clinicians may develop strict boundaries between work and home. This separation is offered as a positive coping strategy, often cited by those who profess mastery over the demands of clinical care. However, for the clinician whose work routinely involves death and dying, this compartmentalization may result in increased tension with significant others. Either in an effort to shield loved ones from the intimate and graphic details of death or as the result of feeling that those "outside" the care environment could not "truly" understand these realities of caring for the dying, the effect may be communication conflicts, difficulty maintaining trust and openness necessary for sustaining personal relationships, and limitation of one's social circle to those from similar professions. With individual and institutional efforts it is possible to create a clinician and team "personality" that is hardier and more resilient to the negative effects of working with dying patients. Providing an individual and institutional perspective that what is routine in working in health care settings (where facing dying and death often occurs) is not a routine event anywhere else may be the key to helping clinicians understand, cope with, and improve their role in the care of dying patients and their families.
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