Empathy is a significant and influential part of the healthcare system. It is important for health professionals to include a true understanding and compassion to their patients; moreover, psychologically a person is more capable of getting through a health problem when they are approaching their issue in a more assured approach. This encourages more effective communication between the patient and the healthcare provider. According to Kasley Killam, effective communication is associated with higher patient satisfaction, better adherence to medications, lower likelihood of mistakes, and fewer malpractices. Based on research, effective physician-patient communication results in more positive health outcomes for the patient (Killam, 2014). The…
The Building Empathy in Healthcare article mentions a couple of reasons of the importance of empathy. Empathy helps build trust and increases patient compliance, as a result, patients have better recovery rates. According to a research study, doctors provide better service when their patients fully verbalize their emotional concerns (Killam, 2014). It is no secret that being a doctor is a stressful job; however, health providers and even patients can help physicians physically recharge through burnouts. In order to ensure that we are truly empathetic towards patients, we must remember where we came from. Before a person becomes a health provider they had to go through certain training and practices to reach their job position. The best way to include empathy is to remember that at some point in time we were patients; put ourselves in the patient’s shoes. We have all experienced similar experiences, and everyone goes through problems, no matter how big or small the issues are. Healthcare professionals need to teach their students and remind them how effective empathy can be; not only for the patients but everyone who is part of the healthcare system. Reinforcing empathy to our daily healthcare practices will most definitely make a difference to many lives, including…