Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

44 PATIENT EXPERIENCE Physicians praying with patients — Does religion belong in exam rooms? By Megan Knowles A lthough religion does not oen enter the realm of medicine, some patients — particularly those with strong spiritual beliefs — may want to have spiritual interactions with their physicians. For some patients, turning to prayer can be a comforting way to accept their recovery or prognosis. However, the presence of religion in the exam room may create a dilemma for physicians treating these patients, according to an op-ed in Medscape. If physicians do not agree with their patients' beliefs, do not want to have a spiritual interaction with them or feel praying is keeping them from making necessary lifestyle changes, they may be inclined to leave religion out of their care routines. On the other hand, some physicians are glad to participate in prayer and feel it can help the patient's recovery. "Patient surveys show that patients welcome prayer from their nurse or physician, espe- cially in the case of greater illness severity," Michael Balboni, PhD, psychiatry instructor at Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard Medical School, told Medscape. "e dichotomy be- tween the doctor who takes care of the body and the priest who takes care of the soul doesn't exist for some patients." For parents of pediatric patients with severe conditions, some physicians feel prayer helps build trust and communi- cation with these parents, who are often struggling with a highly emotional situ- ation. "In one instance where a patient's son was in a coma, I informed the mother, who is a devout Christian, that her child was in my prayers," said Moshe Cohn, MD, a pediatric critical care specialist at New York City-based NYU Langone Medical Center. "That led to [a] much more open relationship with that parent." However, psychiatrist and geriatrician Har- old Koenig, MD, director of the Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University argued physicians do not necessarily have to participate in reciting prayer if the patient re- quests for them to join in. "Instead, you can offer to sit with the patient quietly while he or she recites the prayer," he said. "Physicians also have rights, including the right to excuse themselves if something violates their own religious beliefs, or they find it offensive." If these situations arise, Dr. Koenig recom- mended physicians say, "I'm probably not the best person to sit with you during prayer, so let me see if I can find someone else." e decision to engage in prayer with pa- tients should depend on both the physician and patient feeling comfortable, the article concluded. "Ultimately, the integrity of the physician/patient relationship will emanate not from the prayer per se, but from the at- mosphere of mutual respect and partnership with which the issue is approached." n Survey: Majority of physicians think patients don't listen to lifestyle advice By Megan Knowles A lthough physicians and nurses said they give at least some of their patients advice on making changes to maintain health and prevent disease, more than 70 percent of these healthcare providers believe patients only listen to this advice sometimes or rarely, according to a Medscape poll. Medscape surveyed more than 500 healthcare profession- als, including 358 physicians and 157 nurses, who weighed in on giving patients lifestyle advice. Here are five poll findings. 1. While all nurses and physicians who responded to the poll said they advise at least some of their patients to change lifestyle practices to reduce disease risk, only 61 percent of physicians and 53 percent of nurses said they always offer lifestyle advice. 2. Roughly one-third of physicians (32 percent) and 36 percent of nurses or advanced practice nurses said they "often" offered lifestyle advice, while 6 percent of physi- cians and 8 percent of nurses said they "sometimes" offer it. 3. When physicians did advise patients, they were most likely to recommend increased physical activity (90 percent), improving nutrition and diet (80 percent), and quitting smoking (82 percent). Nurses answered similarly. 4. Physicians were significantly more likely than nurses to advise losing weight, with 76 percent of physicians rec- ommending that lifestyle change compared to 61 percent of nurses. 5. Physicians and nurses were less likely to advise patients on socializing and sexual behavior. Recommendations to increase socializing were made by 23 percent of physi- cians and 24 percent of nurses, while 12 percent of phy- sicians and 8 percent of nurses said they advised patients to make a change in sexual behavior. n

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