What is it about?
Health care professionals (HCPs) can inadvertently impose extra suffering on top of the disease state itself in patients living with chronic illness. This study exploring the lives of people with relapsing remitting MS uncovered several instances where compromised care from HCPs led to significant extra suffering for patients , resulting in many years of reduced quality of life and worthiness. Being aware of the potential for surplus suffering in past HCP encounters can empower the nurse to help manage surplus suffering and improve future HCP encounters for patients under their care.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
Busy lives and busy clinics are the mainstay of modern MS care, unfortunately sometimes resulting in compromised care or reduced quality of care for patients. Simple acts of kindness, consideration and compassion can go a long way to improving clinical encounters with patients and ultimately lead to greater satisfaction in care and shared decision making. HCPs may be unknowingly dealing with the wounds from past surplus suffering encounters in patients under their care. Identifying and managing this suffering could lead to improved future health relationships and quality of life for patients.
Perspectives
The concept of surplus suffering in people living with RRMS was a shocking and surprising finding in this life history study. However, it couldn't be denied, occurring in half the the study participants and some more than once. Finding a name to put to the compromised care I had sometimes been told about by patients in clinical situations was the key to moving forward and helping patients to manage surplus suffering and to heal. Simply talking about these surplus suffering experiences meant so much to some study participants, who had kept their surplus suffering secret for decades. Nurses are in an ideal position to help patients move forward and improve their quality of life.
Therese Burke
University of Notre Dame Australia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Management of ‘surplus suffering’ in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis to improve patient quality of life, British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, December 2018, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/bjnn.2018.14.6.265.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
