The 1918-1919 influenza pandemic led to a phenomenon termed as pandemic amnesia. It is apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a disturbingly similar pattern. My thesis investigated the prevalence and perils of pandemic amnesia in the context of COVID-19. I explored this issue through a review of scholarly literature...
Communication is an aspect of healthcare that affects healthcare providers and patients at each step of their medical journey. The purpose of this research is to identify the effects that language barriers cause between healthcare workers and patients and the patients’ families and how those effects are perceived by and...
This thesis aims to investigate the reasons for discordance in the physician-family relationship, to explore how to improve that relationship, and to develop a set of practices to help prevent conflicts. The research was done by analyzing research on surrogate decision making, conflicts surrounding end of life, and case studies....
As medicine in the United States has progressed, physicians have been posed with a unique task of shepherding patients into the end of their life. This research sought to determine the effect this has on physicians in the form of what has been coined “professional grief.” In this, we look...
The medical system in healthcare facilities is characterized by its hierarchical nature. This hierarchy is demonstrated in the authority assumed by physicians. Professional respect and communication between doctors and the nurses are necessary for overall job satisfaction and the creation of an optimal environment for quality patient care. The significance...
Moral distress is the experience of knowing the right action to take but being unable to take it. It is especially prevalent in the healthcare profession, where professionals’ actions are limited by the wishes of patients and their families, hierarchies, and organizational failings. Since it is accepted that healthcare professionals...
As the importance of empathy in medicine has become more understood the dynamic of the patient-doctor relationship has changed. However, how to properly incorporate empathy into a healthcare relationship has not been thoroughly investigated. There is also continued disagreement on how to appropriately define empathy in a healthcare setting. The...
Despite research advancements, the medical field contributes to many health disparities, or situations in which groups that were historically oppressed also experience systematically worse health and greater health risks than more advantaged groups. Although some researchers have paid attention to this population, most studies focus on transition-related care (mostly surgeries...
The art of medicine refers to physicians’ abilities to skillfully navigate interpersonal interactions with patients. These interactions are vital to the formation of exceptional physician-patient relationships. Certain elements of healthcare today such as the advancement of diagnostic tests, the emergence of the electronic medical record, and the presence of market...
Many public opinion surveys indicate that patients desire an open dialogue on spirituality/religion with their physicians. What role does spirituality play in the physician/patient relationship and in what contexts do these conversations arise? What do physicians think about the appropriateness of such discussions? Because the role of spirituality in clinical...
From the formation of reservations, Native Americans have faced many
difficulties and continue to deal with cultural barriers today. Particularly within a medical
setting, there is a worldview disconnect between western medicine and traditional Native
healing. It would be useful to interview Native pupils to learn about their uses of...
The relationship between the self and the body forms the basis of many philosophical speculations throughout history. This thesis investigates the self‐body relationship in a modern medical context, connecting abstract ideas about the mind and embodiment with ethical decision making in healthcare. Naturalist, Feminist and property conceptions of the body...
Nurses are known to have “big hearts,” but in order to fully understand their own thoughts and actions in practice, nurses need to develop their minds. Nursing ethics deserves recognition because all nurses need an understanding of ethical concepts in order to recognize ethical issues and dilemmas. The ideal ways...
The relationship between physicians and patients is undeniably unique. To understand the qualities of a healing relationship, it is essential to analyze the perceptions that influence physician behavior. Metaphors and relationship models are often used in bioethics to analyze the construction of perceptions. The goal of this study is to...
During the first surgery I witnessed, I was struck by an immense sense of wonder at the human body. This research effort determines if this awe is shared by physicians currently practicing medicine, if this wonder will fade as part of an everyday landscape, and delves into the different forms...
Seven schools of thought, varying in cosmology and age, were studied in order to
glean the ethical precepts and virtues to which each school of thought adhered. These
injunctions were put in list-form and compared with respect to both semantics and
content. The purpose of this investigation was to look...