Hugs.

[Doug Underhill]

At the clinic last week, I saw an attending walk out into a waiting room and hug the patient he was about to see. Both doctor and patient seemed to view the interaction positively. The patient was a man in his 30s who was here to see his primary care physician (the attending in question) about his type II diabetes. The physician was also a middle-aged man.

When is it appropriate to hug a patient? My guess as a pre-med is that you should just know the right time though the patient's body language and your own emotional intelligence. What sort of experience do other SDNers have with this?

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[Lysinee]

1. The hug should be initiated by the patient, not the doctor.
2. It's weird that the Dr hugged the patient in the beginning.
3. Hugs are rare in the clinical setting, mostly handshakes.

 

[karayaa]

At the clinic last week, I saw an attending walk out into a waiting room and hug the patient he was about to see. Both doctor and patient seemed to view the interaction positively. The patient was a man in his 30s who was here to see his primary care physician (the attending in question) about his type II diabetes. The physician was also a middle-aged man.

When is it appropriate to hug a patient? My guess as a pre-med is that you should just know the right time though the patient's body language and your own emotional intelligence. What sort of experience do other SDNers have with this?

Yes to these, but it also depends on the relationship and past history, and the situation.

1. The hug should be initiated by the patient, not the doctor.
2. It's weird that the Dr hugged the patient in the beginning.
3. Hugs are rare in the clinical setting, mostly handshakes.

3 is true, but I don't think it's possible to make black and white rules about a thing like this.
Do you think hugs are unprofessional?
What if the doctor knew that the patient wanted to be hugged?

 

[efle]

Idk about you guys, I walk in to class on the first day and hug my professor, hugs are not unprofessional at all

 

[Lysinee]

3 is true, but I don't think it's possible to make black and white rules about a thing like this.
Do you think hugs are unprofessional?
What if the doctor knew that the patient wanted to be hugged?

How would the Dr know that this particular patient likes getting a hug? This is not something you would note in the file.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/01/healthcare-providers-hug-patients.html

 

[efle]

How would the Dr know that this particular patient likes getting a hug? This is not something you would note in the file.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/01/healthcare-providers-hug-patients.html

I have never met anybody who didn't like hugs

 

[Ismet]

How long has the patient had the doctor as his PCP? In both my ambulatory and FM rotations, the doctors I worked with had patients that they had very long term relationships with, like 20+ years. The patient and the doctor knew stuff about each other's personal lives, asked how the wife and kids were doing, etc. I've seen a couple docs do that handshake/half hug thing with some of their longstanding patients. Depends on both individuals and what the relationship is like.

 

[AspiringERMD]

My primary care practitioner of a few years hugged me when I told her I was going back to school to take the med school prerequisites. I thought it was nice. That said, there may be patients with traumatic experiences who would be frightened by people just reaching out to touch them without asking, and I think it's important to respect that and not make assumptions about someone's history.

 

[Catalystik]

Hugs are rare in the clinical setting, mostly handshakes.

Except in pediatrics. I love getting my knees hugged.

 

[karayaa]

How would the Dr know that this particular patient likes getting a hug? This is not something you would note in the file.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/01/healthcare-providers-hug-patients.html

FILE???
Is that the only way you plan to know your patients???
Of course it's not in their file. It's relational knowledge, based on knowing them as a person, not a collection of medical problems.

 

[karayaa]

How long has the patient had the doctor as his PCP? In both my ambulatory and FM rotations, the doctors I worked with had patients that they had very long term relationships with, like 20+ years. The patient and the doctor knew stuff about each other's personal lives, asked how the wife and kids were doing, etc. I've seen a couple docs do that handshake/half hug thing with some of their longstanding patients. Depends on both individuals and what the relationship is like.

exactly

My primary care practitioner of a few years hugged me when I told her I was going back to school to take the med school prerequisites. I thought it was nice. That said, there may be patients with traumatic experiences who would be frightened by people just reaching out to touch them without asking, and I think it's important to respect that and not make assumptions about someone's history.

yes!
I'm not trying to suggest that doctors start randomly hugging everyone.

 

[Winged Scapula]

3. Hugs are rare in the clinical setting, mostly handshakes.

Except in oncology. It's pretty common; I get several hugs a day from patients and family members.

 

[Ismet]

FILE???
Is that the only way you plan to know your patients???
Of course it's not in their file. It's relational knowledge, based on knowing them as a person, not a collection of medical problems.

Wait wait wait you don't document each patient's preferred manner of greeting?

😛 😛 😛 😛

 

[karayaa]

Wait wait wait you don't document each patient's preferred manner of greeting?

😛 😛 😛 😛

aint nobody got time for that 🙂

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Wait wait wait you don't document each patient's preferred manner of greeting?

😛 😛 😛 😛

Someone else does that in our electronic record.

 

[Lysinee]

Except in pediatrics. I love getting my knees hugged.

Except in oncology. It's pretty common; I get several hugs a day from patients and family members.

How often do you initiate a hug? Or is it mostly receiving?

 

[llamasarefuzzy]

Was with my pediatrician for 19 years. We hugged on my last visit (when she kicked me out because I wasn't allowed to be hospital staff and a patient in peds lol) can't imagine many other times when I would want to hug my doctor, and conversely, I don't foresee myself hugging future patients on a regular basis

 

[Catalystik]

How often do you initiate a hug? Or is it mostly receiving?

For me, hugging for the joy of it is mostly receiving, then responding. In general (not counting babies), hugging for comfort comes after reading body language and easing into it or asking "Can I hug you?" before initiating.

 

[Winged Scapula]

How often do you initiate a hug? Or is it mostly receiving?

They are generally initiated by the patient; I will often put my arm around them, on their back, or knee as a way of comforting touch especially when sharing bad news or reassuring them but don't initiate hugs unless it is clear from the patient's body language that they are receptive to one and need one.