Taking a patient’s pulse is now done with a probe attached to a patient’s finger. from shutterstock.com

“Every day, doctors, nurses and other health professionals are presented with situations that demand empathy and compassion.

“Whether telling a 40-year-old man with cancer he doesn’t have long to live, or comforting an elderly woman who is feeling anxious, the health professional needs to be skilled in understanding what the other person is going through, and respond appropriately.

“With more demand on doctors and nurses and a push for quicker consultations, clinical empathy is being dwarfed by the need for efficiency. But this doesn’t mean patients have stopped wanting to be treated in a caring and empathetic manner. And there is a growing body of evidence that this need is often not being met.”

“Empathy is key to good communication

“In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch tells his daughter Scout that ‘you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’”

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