Reflection On Dignity Conserving Care

Dignity conserving care is one of the most important aspects of primary health care. It is the first step in gaining trust and developing empathy with your patients. Dignity regarding healthcare would refer to the perception which patients have of themselves (Chochinov HM, 2004: 2026-30) There are various factors which influence how a healthcare practitioner treats their patients. These factors namely attitude, behaviour, compassion and dialogue will be explored through the use of a hypothetical example between a healthcare practitioner and her patients well as being an Integrated Health Professional. Self-reflection is another key aspect of primary health care and is explored through my thoughts in respond to reading the situation and how …show more content…
Attitude refers to the prejudgement or learnt mentality to behave in a consistent way towards a given group of people or as a persistent mentality or neural state of readiness to react to a certain group of people, not as they are conceived to be. (Stienstra D, 2006:166-74) Altough examinig your attitudes and assumptions towards other people or situations may be a deeply personal task, it is a task needed to be performed as attitudes may be the patient’s reality or not reflect it at all and it may impact how the patient feels about him/herself. From the case, it is evident that Sister Ngube had already formulated a strong, negative attitude towards teenage girls regarding their sexual behaviour which impacted the effectiveness of her …show more content…
As a Reflective Health Professional, one should always assess their attitude and behaviour as it may affect the effectiveness of their work. The reflection of the professionals attitude should occur before the professional interviews the patient during the preparation as well as with the behaviour at the termination of the interview to ensure that the way that the professional’s actions were unbiased or unaffacted by their personal prejudice or assumptions. As an Empathetic Health Professional, one should practice compassion without fault during the interview and treating of a patient as well as engaging in active listening and engage in a dialogue with the patient to be able to gain as much crucial information as possible. Finally, as a Knowing Health Professional, one should practice being aware of the commitment that they have agreed to as well as how different cases of patients may faulter their attitude towards a certain class of