The relationship between health care providers and patients.

Picture source:pexels.com

Welcome to my blog today, yeah it's been a while. I went to a medical center yesterday and I saw the way medical practitioners were relating to their patients rudely or abusively and even some some patients too who were not patient enough to listen or follow instructions.

So I think I have to drop this and let people know how to relate and what exactly the relationships are based on what i've learnt.

Whatever purpose takes an individual to the health care center, the dynamics would vary in the autonomy. E.g someone who was involved in a fatal accident who cannot make choices on how the medical practitioner should handle his or her case and someone who is there for a cosmetic or preventive reasons.

The relationships are as follow:

1. Principal and Agent.

2. Boss and Servant.
   3.Lay person and Expert(professional).
   4.Equal partners.

3. Principal and Agent:The agent represent the interest of the principal just like the relationship between lawyers and their clients.
   It is possible to have a patient who has to be the principal and the health care provider being the agent.

4. Boss and servant:While dealing with a patient who is highly influential E.g President being a patient. The servant can be called sub "servient".
   Superior and subordinate because of power relations or status.

5. Lay person and Expert: Lay person or peasant to be diagnosed by a medical practitioner. That person cannot answer some questions in all case. E.g A farmer and a professor of physiology.
   The medical practitioner gives instructions and tells them what to do.

6. Equal partners: The case of a health care provider being a patient and another health care provider.
   They give relevant information and guide in decision making. Not in all cases though and that is why the situation speaks for the autonomy.

In the course of these relationships there are certain requirements in medical conduct(obligation).

1. Mutual respect: The health care provider must respect the patient irrespective of the condition whereby the patient is either conscious or not, even the dead body of a person must be treated and attended to respectively and this respect must be mutual. And the patient must also respect the health care provider. What they say should be taken seriously.

2. Candour/openess: Patient must tell the medical practitioner what they ought and need to be told, because without this they may not help the patient maximally. The doctors and nurses too needs to do this too truly.

3. Confidentiality: There is a relation between candour and confidentiality because if a patient is being given an information or if they are giving their health care provider any information. They must handle it with confidence, If this cannot be guaranteed then we cannot guarantee candour too. Even when some are irrelevant to either of them they must give it out, They are to decide if it is or not.

This can be overidden under some circumstances (private) but during diagnosis or care they can intrude in this.

Thanks for stopping by today.