Study reveals 10 'never words' that make patients feel helpless
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- “There is nothing else we can do.” That phrase is just about the last thing a patient wants to hear from their doctor, and it's one of ten that researchers call doctor "never words."
In a paper published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Texas A&M Professor Leonard Berry, PhD, said doctors often rely on "prescriptive communication habits" when talking with seriously ill patients.
As a result, patients are left frightened or helpless due to a lack of sensitive communication.
"Certain never words can basically be conversation stoppers," Berry said. "When a doctor says something, it simply stops the conversation. The patient has no way to respond or doesn't feel confident enough, psychologically safe enough, to respond."
Through interviews and surveys with physicians, Berry and his co-authors identified the following "never words."
- “There is nothing else we can do.”
- “She will not get better.”
- “withdrawing care”
- “circling the drain”
- “Do you want us to do everything?”
- “Everything will be fine.”
- “fight” or “battle”
- “What would he want?”
- “I don’t know why you waited so long to come in.”
- “What were your other doctors doing/thinking?”
Berry argues that by getting rid of these words and phrases, doctors can invite a more open conversation that gives the power back to the patient, allowing for difficult decisions to be made in a more collaborative way.
The paper urges clinician educators to draw attention to these "never words" by promoting discussion on the difficult conversations doctors can expect to have with their patients.
"Talk about the alternative phrasing that would be much more resonant with patients and families, much more comfortable, safer, trust building," Berry said.