Muhammad Zain

Period: 6
Compassionate Communication Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
June 30, 2020
https://www.journalofhospitalmedicine.com/jhospmed/article/223583/hospital-
medicine/compassionate-communication-amid-covid-19-pandemic

Summary: COVID-19 has drastically changed the patient-doctor relationship in a matter of

months. It has changed the way doctors communicate with patients, family, and colleagues. With
masks on at all times and virtual meetings, it is much harder to for patients and doctors to read
social cues. This lack of social cues has caused a disconnect with the medical field; obviously, it
can be solved by doctors expressing nonverbal signals in verbal ways, but it's much harder to do
than it seems. Meaning they should be more descriptive. Mental health has also taken an impact
on both caregivers and patients. First, many hospitals have adopted no-visitor policies, even for
families, which can make many patients alone. Doctors and nurses also have less contact and
social engagements with their colleagues, causing them to feel less contacted. There are many
strategies that can be used to minimize these issues, but the problem wouldn't disappear until
COVID is completely eradicated.

Project Topic Connection: This article directly connects to my topics because it discusses the
impact of COVID-19 in the medical field. My project's career field is based on this semester is a
vascular surgeon, and the article discusses how doctors, such as vascular surgeons, are impacted
by the virus. For doctors, the pandemic "already rapidly changed the way we communicate with
patients, families, and colleagues." If I do decide to become a vascular surgeon, I would need to
take account of these issues. Medicine at its core is just a "connection between healers and the
sick," so if there any communication problems, it can break the whole system. Even if someone
is the best surgeon in the world, if they lack communication, they will fail. This connects to my
topic because it helps me to understand the importance of communication in the field. I can do as
much research as I want with my topic, but if I lack communication, I won't go far.

Personal Response: After reading the article, I found it very interesting. I honestly didn't know
that the patient-doctor relationship in the medical field was that important. Moreover, I had no
clue that COVID-19 has caused a major communication disconnect between patients and
doctors. I knew that COVID-19 has negatively impacted storage space, patient rooms, and
mental health, but learning that communication has negatively been impacted was a complete
shock. Even with all the depressing facts the article provides, I liked how it also gives some
solutions to these problems. These solution may not be perfect, but it does provide a good
starting point. After reading the article, I also have some questions, like how long will it take to
fix the communication disconnect, when will everything go back to normal, has adopting no-
visiters rule been more negative than positive. Overall, I found the article quite fascinating and
would like to do more research on this communication disconnect.

Work Cited:

Mathews, Benji K, and Nathan Houchens. “Compassionate Communication Amid the COVID-

19 Pandemic.” Journal of Hospital Medicine, 30 June 2020,

 Muhammad Zain
Period: 6
www.journalofhospitalmedicine.com/jhospmed/article/223583/hospital-

medicine/compassionate-communication-amid-covid-19-pandemic. Accessed March 11,

2021