#62 Giving bad news badly
When it comes to discussions on patient prognosis, it's easy to give bad news. But doing this well, and doing this with tact, is not so easy. It takes poise and preparation, and much more experience than you might have previously thought. Dr. Mike Rubenstein shares his approach in this installment of BrainWaves. Produced by James E. Siegler. Music by Andy Cohen, Little Glass Men, and Axeltree. Voiceover by Erika Mejia. BrainWaves' podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used for clinical decision making. REFERENCES Baile WF, Buckman R, Lenzi R, Glober G, Beale EA and Kudelka AP. SPIKES-A six-step protocol for delivering bad news: application to the patient with cancer. Oncologist. 2000;5:302-11. Fallowfield L and Jenkins V. Communicating sad, bad, and difficult news in medicine. Lancet. 2004;363:312-9. Ptacek JT and Eberhardt TL. Breaking bad news. A review of the literature. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association. 1996;276:496-502.
