Surgeon and columnist Pauline Chen suggests doctors and nurses should be obliged to pause for silent reflection when someone they are treating dies. It would be good for them, she says, and may make them better carers.
On hospital wards, in the operating room, in clinics and in the intensive care unit, there should be a mandatory five-minute silence when a patient dies.
If Ms Chen was suggesting that staff be allowed the room to do so, I might be inclined to go along with her, but mandatory? Nah…
In my previous roles, I had to deal with death. Much like other professionals who have to manage the aftermath, I found that practicalities kick in immediately – in my case, getting the body off the line and trains running as soon as possible. For hospital staff, they really do have to think about the next patient – you know, the one who is alive and they can do something for.
We immediately think about going to see the next patient, cleaning the room, getting the body ready to go to the mortuary. Anything to avoid confronting the reality before us because, for those of us who practise in wealthier countries, a patient who dies represents our professional failure.
Well, no, you do it because that is your job. It’s what we pay you for. There is plenty of time later to reflect if that is what you want to do.
I’d also point out that medical staff who get too involved with the death of their patients are likely to end up with problems themselves. That detachment is essential to their own sanity, just as I didn’t get involved in the personal back stories of the people I removed from the railway line for the same reason.
I’m not too sure Ms Chen’s idea will cut much ice with her fellows in the profession.
The next in line is now down 5 minutes, at least, before they get any help. That increases the chances that they will be next so the next person is at least 10 minutes later.
What can possibly be wrong with this?