Dr. Michael Khan explores the pervasiveness of "battlefield humor" in this week's New York Times Cases section. Beyond being dehumanizing, and just plain rude, demeaning humor used to describe patients may have a direct impact on communication with the patient and ultimately on patient care. If a physician automatically assumes that a patient's behavior is because of some character flaw, or because the patient is a "whale" or the patient's "crazy," the physician may miss a real symptom or indication. And the humor certainly creates a barrier to building a trusting relationship between physician and patient.
Physicians certainly work in a stressful environment and certainly not all of their patients are pleasant. But what are some alternative that physician might consider to this battlefield humor? How can communication scholars demonstrate the affect this humor has on patients?
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