MANTER A CHAMA ACESA NA MEDICINA

Os profissionais de saúde são um grupo de elevada prevalência de stress ocupacional, quer por fatores  intrínsecos ao trabalho, como  p. ex. o trabalho excessivo ou falta de condições para o exercer condignamente, ou por fatores extrínsecos, como p. ex. dificuldade nos relacionamentos interpessoais. O texto seguinte, da autoria do Prof. David Chaput de Saintonge, Diretor de Educação da PRIME – Partnerships in International Medical Education, apresenta dez sugestões que poderão ajudar os profissionais de saúde a encararem a sua profissão com maior satisfação e a contrariarem o desânimo, a falta de empatia e a desumanização nos serviços de saúde.

 

1. Stay away from cynics. Keep away from people who are always grumbling, criticising and pessimistic about the fundamental goodness of human nature. If you stay with them, you risk becoming like them.

2. Stay close to your patients. Listen to them and try to understand their sufferings so that it is easy to identify with them. One of the major causes of lack of compassion is a sense of distance between yourself and the sufferer. This may be caused by differences in race, language, religion, cleanliness – or just about anything. If you find yourself without compassion for a patient, ask yourself what is causing the distance. To remain fully present in the face of suffering requires maturity and both internal and external resources. These are provided by the three ‘F’s – faith, family and friends.

3. Remember your wounds. There is a saying ‘never trust a doctor who does not bear a wound.’ How often have you had people say ‘I know just how you feel.’ and you have thought ‘Oh no you don’t. You have never experienced what I’m going through right now.’ Although your physical, mental and spiritual wounds will cause you to suffer, they are a valuable cause of compassion for your patients. They will help you reduce the distance.

4. Stop for the one. You can always make a difference to someone; you can never make a difference to everyone. It’s tempting to rush on by and be overcome by business. Time pressure often has a devastating effect on altruistic behaviour which may only be shown when social norms permit.

5. ‘Weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn.’ Don’t be afraid to express your emotions. That is what makes you human and not a machine. Patients want to be treated by humans. The evidence suggests that patients feel supported by displays of emotion by their doctors, especially anger if it is on the patient’s behalf.

6. But remember their suffering is not your suffering. Compassion fatigue is a real problem for the empathic doctor who becomes overwhelmed with the suffering of his patients and cannot escape. Make sure that you are well resourced and exercised both physically, mentally and spiritually.

7. Be thankful for all the blessings you have. This will help keep you both compassionate and content. Some people write a short note to themselves at the end of each week simply listing the things for which they are thankful in their lives.

8. Work closely with good role models for compassionate relationships, both medical and non-medical. It seems likely that a combination of your mirror neurones activity and neuroplasticity will gradually alter the way your brain is structured and the way it works. Both good and bad attitudes can be learnt in this way. In the same way, if you practice compassion yourself, the structure of your brain will change and so will you as a person and as a doctor.

9. Make conscious judgements of which actions show compassion and which do not, both in yourself and in others. This use of your emotional intelligence keeps you alert and tuned in to what is happening and keeps you on track.

10. Admire what is good; oppose what is bad. You have the power and the responsibility to develop a caring environment where you are. You are a role model and an influence for good, not just with your students and your peers but also those who are senior to you. Several times in my life my students have set me straight when my attitude was not as it should have been.