Communicating in Crisis

In health care communication, many crisis communication revolves around some serious event, disaster, or another unfortunate incident. As administrators, crises are typically identified as events that occur on a broader, larger scale that could have a direct and long term impact on the health care organization. These events may include the closing of a nursing home, a water main break flooding the hospital, being forced to evacuate patients during a fire, or a medical mishap. However, to patients and their families, the event that brought them to the hospital or health care organization that day is a crisis.

For a patient, their family and friends, the crisis occurred at the onset of illness. An issue that may seem routine to nursing and other hospital staff may be a crisis for a family. For example, a 65-year-old woman is scheduled for a total knee replacement. At the hospital, there is a designated floor for total knee replacements, and even possibly a well-designed program surrounding this particular surgery. To the nursing staff and other hospital personnel, it is business as usual.  They have at least twelve total knee patients a week. However, to the patient and their family, it is far from business as usual.

The patient is in crisis. They are taking a risk as they do with any surgery. They are scared, unsure of the outcome, hopeful that this will resolve the issues they have been having. At the same time, the family is in crisis as well. The surgery is disruptive to their regular routine. Visits have to be made at the hospital, and accommodations have to be made for the patient once they return home. Perhaps, a family member has had to fly in from out of state to care for the individual following the total knee replacement. That individual may be losing time from work or have many extra expenses on the trip. The patient and the family are under emotional, physical and possibly financial stress.

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It is very important for staff to remember that although this isn't a bridge collapse or a large scale disaster, it is a crisis for the patient and those around them. As a result, communicating with the patient and the family as if they are in crisis is key. Communication should be open, honest, caring and compassionate. The patient and their family should be aware of all that is happening during their hospital stay. Although the surgery may not seem like a big deal to the staff, it is a big deal to the family. The situation should be treated as such.  

Communicating with care and understanding that stress levels are high among patients and family members are of the utmost importance. There are many dynamics at play, and staff may not see every nuance of a family or a situation. The hospital stay is really a snapshot in time. The words that are said to the patient and their family will be repeated over and over again, modified and analyzed long after the patient leaves the hospital's care. 

Finally, it is important to keep in mind that the patient and their family are more than a patient and their family. Most likely, these individuals are key stakeholders in the organization. They are members of the community, they are professionals, their families may donate to the organization, they are potential volunteers. The communication made with the patient and family members could be viewed as a small public relations campaign.