Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Interns' perspectives about communicating bad news to patients: a qualitative study.

Education for Health 2011 December
INTRODUCTION: Communicating bad news to patients and families is an essential skill for physicians but can be difficult for interns. Very little is known about skills in this area for interns in developing countries.

METHOD: Two focus groups, consisting of a total of 12 interns, were conducted in the Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai, India. The grounded theory approach was used to identify common themes and concepts, which related to: (1) barriers in communicating bad news, (2) interns' confidence in communicating bad news, (3) interns' perceptions about their need for such training and (4) interns' suggested methods for training.

RESULTS: Interns described barriers in time constraints, language, their personal fears, patients' illiteracy, crowded wards with no privacy and lack of training. All interns lacked confidence in breaking news of death, but seven were confident in breaking bad news about chronic diseases or cancers. Subjects reported they had received very little classroom teaching or formal instruction in this area, though they had had opportunities to observe a few instances of breaking bad news. They expressed need for increased focus on communication skills curriculum in the form of case discussions, workshops and small group teaching, in addition to clinical observation.

CONCLUSIONS: Interns in our school in Mumbai reported inadequate training and low comfort and skill in communicating bad news and expressed need for focused training.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app