Patients often complain about rushed doctor visits and, of course, the cost of medical services. But a number of studies in recent years highlight a different concern: whether as a patient you actually experience kindness when receiving health care (and many say they don’t). Being treated with basic courtesy and compassion — especially while undergoing medical distress — was rated in one nationwide survey as the most important factor when a patient chooses a provider.

In this Humankind documentary, we examine that challenge, from the perspective of both health care professionals — often serving in a stressful environment — and patients who come for help.

And whether patients are treated as human beings looms large. The vast majority of patients, according to the survey, would switch doctors if treated unkindly.

You’ll hear stories of a commitment to kindness as practiced in several real-world clinical venues.

Funded by the Communitude Initiative at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing.

We visit a remarkable community health center, Northern Nevada Hopes, which takes care of 12,000 patients in Reno, many who are low-income. The CEO, Sharon Chamberlain, tells her unusual story of being formerly homeless and learning first-hand the pain that comes with being “invisible”. We include moving accounts of patients who’ve come to view the clinic as a supportive sanctuary as their lives are on the mend. You’ll also hear from health care professionals about how they prioritize kindness in interactions both with patients and with colleagues.

We listen to nurses in the Twin Cities who are drawn to their profession by compassion for patients. A nursing educator relates the experience of her powerful encounter with a frail patient who was hemorrhaging and who asked if he was dying. But providers also reveal the difficulties of remaining emotionally “present” in a high-stress medical setting. Said one nurse, people who are hurting “might come in hot and confrontational, and we might be having a bad day and meet them there.” Several patients tell what it’s like to be treated unkindly or to feel undervalued in the clinic. We consider the primary importance of listening to patients as a way of conveying respect.

Web Extra
Mary Jo Kreitzer, founder and director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality & Healing, discusses the value of mindfulness when dealing with bothersome professional interactions.

To learn more:

Americans Rate Kindness as Top Factor in Care.

Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing.

Our free Humankind series on resilient nurses exploring pressures on contemporary nurses; ways to stay calm and clear in a hectic worklife; the art of listening; and “compassion fatigue”.

Our Humankind documentary on Health Inequality.

Compassion: A scoping review of the healthcare literature —
“The importance of compassion within healthcare, while seemingly self-apparent and frequently referenced in the literature, has received little in the way of empirical attention over the past quarter century.”