Communicating Bad News in the Health Care Organization

Abstract

Communication is the dynamic exchange of information or news either verbally or non-verbally, which can have a profound emotional impact on both the receiver and the deliverer of news, especially if bad news is delivered badly. In the health care industry, communication occurs daily between medical and non-medical staff working to provide efficient and compassionate patient care. Despite the constant need for physicians and other health care professionals to communicate bad news to patients, there is poor emphasis on formal training in effective communication in the training curriculum. There is also a paucity of evidence-based literature on how to have difficult conversations in the work place or how to break bad news to a patient. This chapter reviews a multi-faceted approach to effective ­communication, and proposes helpful, practical strategies to effective communication in the ­workplace and during patient care. Efficient communication requires adequate preparation, true self-knowledge and responsibility, consideration and good listening skills from both parties, genuine display of empathy and compassion, conveying positive, hopeful messages during the conversation, individualized information to the specific situation and person, appropriate control of emotions, and efficient plans for support and follow-up after the conversation.