“Face” and “face-work”, the way we think about ourselves, or how we are portrayed to others such as our credibility, public image, or reputation can have large negative impacts on the way healthcare is both received and delivered. Because this communication practice of saving face is something that each and every person experiences, it has the ability to impact healthcare from every angle it comes from, such as from the patient perspective or the providers. A face threatening act (FTA) is an experience that threatens one 's face. A demonstration of this is in a healthcare setting when a nurse or even tech notices something is not right with a patient and does not want to speak up and threaten the doctor’s “face”. When these mistakes are ignored,
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To simplify, positive face is the need to be liked by others and have your work and input appreciated while the negative face is wanting to prove that you are autonomous and you can make decisions on your own (Spiers, 1998). An example of this could be that in an operation, the head surgeon is expected to be the leader. This leader would want to have the other personnel in the operating room to put their trust in them and believe that what they say is the best practice and approach to the surgery. This would protect their “positive face”. Additionally, the lead surgeon would want to protect their “negative face” and not take orders or ideas from others. If one of the other professionals in the room had an idea they believed to be better or more appropriate, it would threaten the lead surgeon’s face. When ideas clash, negative outcomes happen, especially when doubting and threatening face of someone that is supposed to be respected and trusted. If there is pushback on what the lead is saying with many differing ideas from the others, the leader 's credibility is threatened and the patient becomes at risk for an error from a communication mishap. Communicating openly and sharing ideas without regard to face is the only way to combat this problem of “who is the
To simplify, positive face is the need to be liked by others and have your work and input appreciated while the negative face is wanting to prove that you are autonomous and you can make decisions on your own (Spiers, 1998). An example of this could be that in an operation, the head surgeon is expected to be the leader. This leader would want to have the other personnel in the operating room to put their trust in them and believe that what they say is the best practice and approach to the surgery. This would protect their “positive face”. Additionally, the lead surgeon would want to protect their “negative face” and not take orders or ideas from others. If one of the other professionals in the room had an idea they believed to be better or more appropriate, it would threaten the lead surgeon’s face. When ideas clash, negative outcomes happen, especially when doubting and threatening face of someone that is supposed to be respected and trusted. If there is pushback on what the lead is saying with many differing ideas from the others, the leader 's credibility is threatened and the patient becomes at risk for an error from a communication mishap. Communicating openly and sharing ideas without regard to face is the only way to combat this problem of “who is the