Question

Reflect on a caring and compassionate experience with a patient or family encountered in your practice. How was your compassion demonstrated? What other ways do you wish you would have expressed caring? How does your thinking about compassion expand to include self and colleagues? please provide references of sources used

Answer 1

Yes there are many experiences of compassionate and caring moment. I will share my experience of pediatric oncological department . Those days I had my posting in the leukemia clinic . Small small babies with blood cancer used to get registered every day . For the parents it was like what sin they had did that for that they paying know by their own children's life . It needs to be emotionally and mentally so strong to deal with these people. It's very difficult for not only the children's but also for the parents to deal with cancer . It changes the life of each and every person of the family . Parents need to leave their jobs to take care of their childrens ,to take them everyday hospital for OPD's , chemotherapy ,then for treating side effects etc. Once , I saw a parent was crying because her child was having severe mucositis and it he was unable to swallow water . It was grade 3 mucositis and his mother was just pisted of by his disease and the side effects of chemotherapy as she was all alone and his husband has left him because his son has been diagnosed with cancer and cannot afford the cost of the treatment. It was a critical situation for her as she was physically , mentally and emotionally drained out .

I gave her and child seat to sit ,then first of all I told her to stop crying because crying is not a solution and told her to express all her feelings so that she feel relaxed and gave her a feeling that there are many others people to whom she can share her feelings if she don't mind . Then she expressed her concerns regarding his son ,he was having grade 4 mucositis ,I took the child to physician and admission of the child was necessary to provide him hydration and mucositis treatment . The child was shifted to the ward . Everyday I used to follow up both of them and provided her strength that she herself can treat her child alone ,also I took a social service person to make her arrangements for shelter , food and other basic needs. Also told about the disease condition ,the procedures , the side effects ,what have to be in emergency situations ,where to reach in emergency conditions etc . She was so relaxed and had a confidence that she can treat her child . Small babies don't know what they have ,but the parents know they get stressed , fearful and loss all their hopes . Children have a strong g bonding with their parents they get to know when their parents are worried about them . So ,parents need to be psychologically fit and for this they need to be made understand what the disease is and what all the procedures ,what should be done in emergency etc so that they act confidently at appropriate time and treat their childrens well .