Telling the patient

The ethics of telling the patient.

A National Health Service psychotherapist criticizes the strategems employed by hospital staff in their communication with cancer patients. He argues that the issue is not simply whether or not to tell the truth but, more importantly, how to do so. Silence, deception, euphemistic language, and projection of the physician's or nurse's feelings onto the patient aggravate psychological stress an...

Truth-telling and patient diagnoses.

How do physicians handle informing patients of their diagnoses and how much information do patients really want? How do registered nurses view both sides of this question? Three questionnaires were constructed and administered in a mid-size hospital in New York state. Physicians and nurses underestimate the number of patients who want detailed information. Patients who earn more than average, h...

Truth-telling in the doctor–patient relationship: a case analysis

Using a real-life case involving an accidental discovery of misattributed paternity as a springboard for discussion, I reflect on several practical and theoretical issues on truth-telling in the doctor–patient relationship. I present the moral dilemma and identify arguments in favour of and against disclosure. I then examine the theoretical difficulties in balancing conflicting reasons and in e...

Editor's Note/Man, the Story-Telling Animal

Telling the truth.

Are doctors and nurses bound by just the same constraints as everyone else in regard to honesty? What, anyway, does honesty require? Telling no lies? Avoiding intentional deception by whatever means? From a utilitarian standpoint lying would seem to be on the same footing as other forms of intentional deception: yielding the same consequences. But utilitarianism fails to explain the wrongness o...