by Martina Billings-McAtee, RN

Created on: December 04, 2009

In the strictest definition of the term, empathy means the identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives. Some feel that in order for physicians to effectively treat their patients they cannot have empathy. They feel that it would impair their ability to treat the patients effectively. After all, sometimes the most effective treatments are painful, arduous and often times require long periods of suffering for the betterment of the patient and sometimes (in the case of research) for the betterment of mankind as a whole.

However, a lack of empathy for a patient is a slippery slope to an eventual loss of ethics in regards to quality patient care. When a physician can no longer see the patients point of view and have an understanding of their pain and suffering, both physically and emotionally, how then can a doctor give a holistic approach to the patients care? How can you care for the patients mental health while dealing with a disease or medical condition if you can't identify with what the patient may be going through? It's not possible.

A lack of empathy has led to one physician advocating the murder of babies who he feels lives don't live up to expectations. In his estimation it is completely within a physicians rights to put to death any infant with spina bifida, down syndrome or any other illness or disease that could potentially diminish the infants quality of life. He justifies this by saying that these infants aren't, in fact, even humans, until a year old. Now, before you think, well that is just one doctor, consider that this particular doctor is in charge of teaching medical ethics in one of the top universities in the United States. This man, who advocates the murder of children and a complete lack of sympathy or empathy is in charge of shaping some of the most brilliant and susceptible minds in our medical community.

While this may seem off topic these subjects go hand in hand. Ethics and empathy are vital for the continuation of excellent health care. Once a door is opened in which physicians no longer must consider a patients feelings, it is only a matter of time before they begin to believe that the sacrifice of one to save many is imperative for the betterment of science and medicine. There is a reason that the research field has the Declaration of Helsinki. This document stresses that a patients rights must never be violated and he must never be sacrificed for the success of a specific study. History has shown us what can happen when physicians, scientists and even our own government stop seeing individuals or minority groups as people.

Without empathy our health care system and our very humanity as a whole would collapse. Empathy is essential to the very fabric of our society and as such shouldn't be taken lightly or taken for granted.

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