A post was recently published on Facebook about a doctor who cried while explaining the death of the patient to the family of the patient. The doctor broke down in tears and cried. However, a netizen that witnessed the scene thinks that professionals should not behave in that way.
Netizens were quick to respond and said that the doctor cried because he/she cared.
Here is the original post
“Thoughts on professionals/ employees crying at work?I was recently visiting my elderly aunt who was hospitalised at one of our major public hospitals.
We were chatting happily when all of a sudden there was a huge commotion at the opposite bed when one of the patients suddenly collapsed and became unconscious. The next thing I knew, a whole team of almost 10 people rushed in to attend to the patient with the alarms blaring throughout the hospital PA system about a “Code Blue” (which I later learned is called when patients collapse and need CPR). Fast forward about 1 hour later, the group of 8 (yes, I counted) slowly left the patient’s side one by one. The poor husband only came towards the end of the hour and so did not even know what had happened.
One of the junior doctors (very young, looks like just graduated) then stepped outside of the curtains to speak to him and to my shock, she only managed a few words then choked up and couldn’t even deliver the news properly and proceeded to excuse herself (probably to cry) just like that… Everyone else was just stepping aside to pack up and left the husband there standing in confusion and shock.
It took almost 10 minutes later until another more senior doctor, I think one of the professors, had to come in to help explain everything to the husband instead. His heartbreak I cannot even fathom. I don’t doubt that working in the hospital is difficult. There are surely a lot of deaths out there. But I don’t think it is right for medical PROFESSIONALS to put their own grief of losing their patient (whom they only see for a few hours at work every day) above the families’ (who are literal life and blood and whom they have known and loved from birth).
How can you even think your loss is greater than the families? It puts the families in very uncomfortable situations in needing to “comfort” the crying doctor/ nurse instead, or in very confusing situations like the above, which is ridiculous.
I suggest the hospitals should look into protocols to enforce that the more senior doctors should be the ones updating families, and for more training of professionalism in this aspect.
Grieving is natural and a part of life, but there is always a time and place for it, and I don’t think any workplace (much less hospitals) should be it.”
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