"Breaking Bad News" Current Practices in Hospitals

Breaking bad news.

Breaking Bad News

Even the most skilled physician knows that conveying bad news to a patient or family can be one of the most arduous aspects of health care. Historically, breaking bad news is a skill that has generally been under-emphasized in training programmes. Critical care physicians are commonly faced with the difficult task of breaking bad news, often in dramatic, emotional and unexpected situations. Bre...

Breaking bad news concerning fertility.

Introduction The subject for this opinion paper is breaking bad news, a complex and integral part in the area of infertility. From the couple’s point of view, involuntary childlessness is not a question of once receiving bad news but repeatedly receiving bad news during the infertility investigation and treatment. Already before seeking medical attention, the couple will have had monthly bad ne...

Breaking bad news-Quo vadis?

Almost everybody has heard horror tales of someone who was shocked after a doctor told him or her bad news in a rude manner. Breaking bad news represents a communication challenge. It is taught as a situation, where things can go utterly wrong. It has been viewed as the culmination point of difficult conversations, where the quality of a health care provider’s communication skills will be expos...

[Breaking bad news in clinical practice].

Breaking bad news is a complex task that requires multiple communication skills from health professionals. Clinical practice demands to communicate all type of bad news, from a diagnosis of cancer to adverse effects of a treatment. On the other hand, since the beginning of the health reform in 2003, the need to improve the quality of services was proposed, among which the concern about the righ...