END-OF-LIFE COMMUNICATION: WHY DO WE FIND IT SO DD7FICULT?

摘要

It has been said that how you communicate bad news is as important as the news itself. In human medicine, bad news has been defined as "any news that drastically and negatively alters the patient's view of his or her own future." If we compare the human pediatric model to veterinary medicine, we can easily see how this definition correlates to our patients and pet families. Let us first understand that, with the exception of emergent care, bad news does not come suddenly. A distressing diagnosis is usually made following laboratory tests, other diagnostics, and sometimes one or more consults. To attempt to understand why health-care providers find this type of dialogue so difficult, we must first understand the detrimental effect this news can possibly have on our pet families.