- Title
- Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions of Breaking Bad News Among Paediatric Doctors in a South African Hospital
- Creator
- Thaver, Linesri
- Description
- Breaking bad news to patients is a difficult but regular task for doctors in clinical practice (Alshami et al. 2020). In paediatrics, doctors have the additional complexity of communicating difficult information with their young patients and their families (Mǎrginean et al. 2017). Despite this essential skill, clinicians are inadequately prepared, which can contribute to poor patient satisfaction and outcomes, litigation and negatively impact the treating clinician (Brown et al. 2009; Alshami et al. 2020). Aim: The study aimed to assess the knowledge regarding breaking bad news, as well as the attitude and perceptions towards breaking bad news among doctors working in the paediatric department at Dora Nginza Hospital, a regional teaching hospital in Gqeberha, South Africa, and compare the findings to the international literature. Approach: A mixed methods knowledge, attitudes and perceptions study using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted at the paediatric department at Dora Nginza Hospital. The survey population ranged from junior doctors to senior specialist paediatricians in the department. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and compared to literature available from similar international studies. Impact of study: Despite the importance of this topic, there are limited studies based in South Africa and specifically in paediatrics, which creates a unique context for this study. The setting of Dora Nginza Hospital, with its diverse cultural background of both doctors and patients, provides vital insight into the local 3 challenges of breaking bad news in this context. The further impact of the predominantly junior staff in an overburdened system and the strategies implemented to break bad news in this context provided useful information to adapt protocols to be utilised in this setting.
- Description
- Thesis (Masters) -- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2023
- Date
- 2023-00
- Subject
- Paediatrics and Child Health
- Type
- Masters theses, text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/11260/12709
- Identifier
- vital:76151
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (92 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Walter Sisulu University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, All Rights Reserved, Open Access
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Thaver, L MMED Dissertation with examiner corrections (1).pdf | 675 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |