The title of this blog post may sound a bit boring, but I'll try to not to make it too esoteric. First off, I want to clarify my use of the word depersonalization: the action of divesting someone or something of human characteristics or individuality. In my opinion, I believe that medical care is progressively losing "the human touch". Although there have been many advances in the science of medicine since I first entered the field 40 years ago, there has been a significant loss in the "art" of medicine.
I'd like to talk specifically about the changes in nursing. Time was that part of nursing care included offering every patient a backrub as part of patient care. Wow that now seems so antiquated. Making a patient's hospital bed was an art in itself and much pride was taken in having nary a wrinkle in the sheets. After all, a wrinkle could ultimately lead to skin breakdown (the dreaded bedsore). A nurse got to know her patients and addressed their medical needs along with their emotional needs. Of course, this was before computers found their way into medicine.
As I write this post, of course I am using a computer and those of you who might read this will be doing so on a computer. At my ripe old age, I try to keep up with technology. I am not opposed to computers playing a role in nursing. But I have a real problem when I see nurses spending a huge chunk of time entering into the computer in a complex program that takes so much more time than a paper chart ever did. All the while, many of the patients are longing for the gentle touch of a nurse who cares. Instead, the patient watches the nurse enter data into the portable computer. The nurse is "under the gun" to have documentation in order. Documentation is scrutinized by "the powers that be". Oh but if those same powers would just place a little more importance on "patient care" instead of "computer care". Would outcomes be different?
Recently, an article was published regarding the loss of empathy in nursing students. " Empathy is central to the nursing role and has been found to be associated with improved patient outcomes and greater satisfaction with care." I must admit that I was encouraged to see that someone decided that maybe something was being "lost in transmission" with our lack of focus on the "art of nursing". Perhaps we can start a movement towards bringing back some of the vestiges of "old school nursing". Now don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we go back to looking like my nursing school photo. Rather, I am proposing that we revisit some of the empathetic patient care that we administered so many years ago.
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