ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Critics of current healthcare argue that professionalism, as manifest by etiquette and bedside manners, has been eroding, in part as a consequence of portrayals on television (TV) and in the media. OBJECTIVE: We sought to identify changing patterns of physicians' behaviors as shown on TV (as these interactions have often served as models for physicians-in-training) over the last 30 years. METHOD: We selected popular TV shows that portrayed practicing physicians and analyzed doctor-family, doctor-doctor, and doctor-nurse interactions as well as methods of disclosing errors to identify changing behavioral trends. RESULTS: We found that difficult news was more commonly delivered while standing, and that handshakes were rarely offered to patients. Male physicians were seen raising their voices toward, disclosing errors to, as well as inappropriately touching, peers or subordinates. In comparison, female physicians were identified as raising their voices toward, disclosing errors to, as well as inappropriately touching, their supervisors. Over the past several decades, official salutations between physicians and nurses have become less common; physicians have started to address nurses solely by their first names. More recently, sexual banter and sexual activity have been portrayed as occurring predominantly between male physicians and female nurses. CONCLUSIONS: While shifts in behavioral patterns (in etiquette, bedside manners, and professionalism) of physicians as seen on television have not been radical, potentially concerning trends were identified. Media portrayals may change patients' perceptions of physicians, hospitals, and the health care profession as well as influence behaviors of medical trainees. Moreover, TV and the media can be used as teaching tools about professionalism in healthcare providers.
Subject(s)
Physician-Nurse Relations , Physician-Patient Relations , Sexual Behavior , Television/trends , Female , Humans , Male , Professional-Family RelationsABSTRACT
The Psychiatric Consultation Service at Massachusetts General Hospital sees medical and surgical inpatients with comorbid psychiatric symptoms and conditions. Such consultations require the integration of medical and psychiatric knowledge. During their twice-weekly rounds, Dr Stern and other members of the Consultation Service discuss the diagnosis and management of conditions confronted. These discussions have given rise to rounds reports that will prove useful for clinicians practicing at the interface of medicine and psychiatry.Dr Unruh is an attending psychiatrist at McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, and an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Dr Nejad is an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, an attending physician on the Psychiatric Consultation Service at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and the director of the Burns and Trauma Psychiatric Consultation Service at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Mr Stern is a research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Dr Stern is chief of the Psychiatric Consultation Service at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.Dr Stern is an employee of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, has served on the speaker's board of Reed Elsevier, is a stock shareholder in WiFiMD (Tablet PC), and has received royalties from Mosby/Elsevier and McGraw Hill. Drs Unruh and Nejad and Mr Stern report no financial or other affiliations relevant to the subject of this article.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Lewd, crude, and rude behaviors of patients and staff members have the potential to complicate care; unfortunately, the medical literature on manners and etiquette is sparse. OBJECTIVE: We sought to understand the impact of lewd, crude, and rude behaviors in the general hospital and to provide a context in which to educate clinicians about the management of troublesome behaviors of patients and staff members. METHOD: We reviewed the history of etiquette in the general hospital, and discuss the ethical ramifications and clinical management of inappropriate behaviors. RESULTS: Lewd, crude, and rude language and behaviors are often heard and seen in the general hospital; such behaviors can be understood in a biopsychosocial context. CONCLUSIONS: Teaching trainees about manners and etiquette can help them identify and manage offensive behaviors and can facilitate the provision of effective and ethical care.
