Abstract
The coronavirus crisis occurs at a time when many clinicians have already experienced burnout. One in three Irish doctors were suffering from burnout in the 2019 National Study of Wellbeing of Hospital Doctors in Ireland; rates are also high in Irish Psychiatry. We present a perspective on the use of narrative in medicine and recognise that storytelling, and the patient history are very much at the heart of medicine. Clinician storytelling, such as Schwartz Rounds and Balint group work, has very much come to the fore in Irish Psychiatry and in training. Projects such as MindReading have explored overlaps between clinicians, humanities experts and experts by experience. We give an overview of some approaches from the movement around narrative in medicine to bolster this. We explore why clinicians write as ways to support identification, catharsis and a way to process experiences. Clinicians and patients may also use literature and poetry to promote coping. The historical context and practical strategies are highlighted, particularly with reference to poetry use during the current crisis.
Highlights
Introduction: changing contexts and anyway it’s just the same old story a few people just trying, one way or another, to survive
The current coronavirus crisis occurs at a time when many clinicians have already experienced burnout
One in three Irish doctors were suffering from burnout in the 2019 National Study of Wellbeing of Hospital Doctors in Ireland (Hayes et al 2019), while rates are high in Irish Psychiatry (McNicholas et al 2020)
Summary
Elizabeth Barrett1,2,*, Melissa Dickson, Clare Hayes-Brady and Harriet Wheelock. The coronavirus crisis occurs at a time when many clinicians have already experienced burnout. Schwartz Rounds, for example, are about sharing the human stories at the heart of medicine and are evidence-based approaches shown to underscore the well-being of clinicians (and by extension, of their patients) These are evidenced, structured interventions shown to support staff and impact on compassionate care in hospitals (Point of Care Foundation; Maben et al 2018; Silke, 2019). The JAMA Network, in 2019, produced a short documentary, The Making of The House of God, detailing the book’s origins and the people and events that inspired its stories (JAMA Network, 2019) Very evident in this interview is an understanding of why clinicians share stories and why clinicians write as ways to support identification, as a means of catharsis and processing experiences. Fiction’s role is not to explain, or to comfort, but to accommodate difficulty, and give breathing space to contradiction
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