Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1122871
57 PATIENT EXPERIENCE Physician viewpoint: How pizza and coffee helped me see patients in new light By Megan Knowles U nderstanding that patients have chal- lenges that make it hard to prioritize health can help physicians connect with them and provide better care, a physi- cian wrote in a piece on Philly.com. e piece was written by Jason Han, MD, a resident in cardiothoracic surgery in the Perelman School of Medicine at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Dr. Han discussed a situation where he encouraged a patient who had early signs of cardiovascular disease to take care of himself better. e patient said he was feeling down about his poor health but insisted he could not find the time and motivation he needed to change his circumstances. "I tried my best to be kind, and not let my frustration show," Dr. Han recounted. "'What could be more important than maintaining your health?' I asked him." e patient shrugged. When Dr. Han le the patient's room, he realized he didn't have time for a real lunch or breakfast. "Skipping a proper breakfast meant I had an extra 10 minutes of sleep, which I always need," he wrote. "I ran to the cafeteria and grabbed a sad-looking slice of cold pizza that apparently nobody else wanted. I congratu- lated myself for remembering to dilute yet another cup of coffee with cold water so I wouldn't burn myself as I drank it down. I dined while climbing back up the stairs to the ICU, savoring a few quiet minutes." e experience isn't uncommon for new physicians as they adjust to their jobs, and skipping meals or sleep is standard behavior, Dr. Han said. But in that moment, Dr. Han said he real- ized he was violating the advice he had just given his patient. "I used to have a hard time understanding patients who carried on with their unhealthy behaviors, even aer being diagnosed with a disease," he said. "Now I understand that we all have our own reasons for failing to do what's best for our health. Understand- ing that my patients — just like me — have challenges that make it hard to prioritize health helps me to connect with them. As a physician, I can provide better care if I try to understand what's holding my patient back from making healthy choices." n Immersive VR experience helps calm pediatric ICU patients, study finds By Anuja Vaidya A fully immersive virtual entertainment experience can help calm patients in the pediatric intensive care unit, according to a study published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. Researchers at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospi- tal of Chicago offered 32 PICU patients a virtual reality headset and smartphone videos. The patients, ranging from ages 3 to 17, could choose VR experiences such as scuba diving and going on a safari. Researchers asked the patients and their parents to complete a short survey after using the VR headset. Researchers found that all participants enjoyed using VR, and 84 percent reported wanting the VR experi- ence to last longer than 15 minutes. All parents reported their child enjoyed the VR expe- rience and said they enjoyed watching their child use the headset. Eighty-two percent of parents also report- ed that VR calmed their child. n Viewpoint: Why physicians should embrace tears By Mackenzie Bean C rying is often seen as an "extreme emotional behavior" that is frowned upon in the medical world, according to Jalal Baig, MD, a hematology/ oncology physician at the University of Illinois at Chicago. However, tears demonstrate a physician's humanity and show that disease is a shared experience, he wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Dr. Baig said an emotional exchange is inevitable when human beings care for other human beings. He recalled the first time he cried in a patient room, while examining a 31-year-old man with a terminal brain tumor and three children under the age of 5. "At that moment, I felt something that I had never experi- enced before inside a patient's room: tears in my eyes," he wrote. Dr. Baig said the tears allowed him to unload years of grief he had been taught to bottle up as a physician. Now, Dr. Baig embraces grief and tears, saying it makes him a better physician. "Instead of diminishing me as a physician, I am left with a more nuanced perspective on life, a greater appreciation for medicine's fallibilities and boundaries, and a renewed commitment to my patients," he wrote. n