Rescuing Masked Doctor-Patient Relationship Enforced by Covid-19: Integrating Empathy in the Healthcare System

Abstract

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a critical moral challenge for medical professionals due to its highly contagious nature that can cause severe respiratory disease and death. As a result, conventional doctor-patient relationships have collapsed since the pandemic. Patients and medical personnel are negatively impacted when social distancing is enforced due to concerns about viral transmission. How to provide high-quality services and maintain professional moral standards in such critical conditions is discussed in this paper, emphasizing empathy as a key moral virtue for professional practice. As moral philosophers offer and advance persuasive arguments, the definition of empathy has been examined to eliminate ambiguity and highlight the distinctions between emotion, passion, compassion, and sympathy. It has been argued that empathy gives medical professionals direction to take the proper perspective in a critical pandemic like Covid-19. Cases are discussed in relation to actual occurrences to argue the moral virtue of empathy and uphold professional standards in medical practices. Empathy can reduce malpractice claims significantly, increase patient satisfaction, and contribute to the good governance of healthcare service management.