Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Volume 6, Issue 3 , Pages 165-172, September 2005

Building the Skill of Delivering Bad News

  • Charles J. Schubert, MD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests and correspondence: Charles J. Schubert, MD, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039.
    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
    • ,
  • Patricia Chambers, MD

      Affiliations

    • Division of Emergency Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

Delivering bad news in the emergency department can be a stressful and reluctantly performed undertaking. However, from the patient's or family's perspective it is a very critical time in their life and therefore demands that the medical practitioner deliver the news in the most helpful way possible. Having a method to perform this task can empower the practitioner to improve the experience for the patient and ultimately provide better patient care. The 5 steps presented: site preparation, building the foundation, using the level, adapting to unexpected obstacles, and planning for the future, will provide an approach and a paradigm to perform this very important task. The skills of building rapport and reflective listening, along with the ability to calmly deal with a wide variety of emotions will also be discussed. These tools and skills will assist the pediatric emergency physician to better approach this important mission.

Keywords: bad news, rapport, reflective listening, compassion, hope

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PII: S1522-8401(05)00075-3

doi:10.1016/j.cpem.2005.05.001

Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Volume 6, Issue 3 , Pages 165-172, September 2005

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