Why do those who work in healthcare, some of our most compassionate people, lose their empathy?
In her TED talk Sammy reveals how tough things are on the frontline for NHS doctors and speaks candidly about her struggle to keep patients safe.
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“The first NHS winter crisis had hit and it was a war zone. The waiting room was standing room only. Trollies lined every corridor. Resus was overflowing. Ambulances stacked outside the doors. Every shift was fighting fires we could never get on top of. I lived in constant fear, knowing, as exhausted and run ragged as I was, eventually I was going to miss something. And boy did we have our near misses.”
Sammy explores her research into empathy, and explains how and why doctors’ empathy takes a hit during the early stages of training, and never fully recovers. Introducing the concept of moral injury Sammy explains the psychological toil that working in a broken systems takes on a doctor. She suggests that being unable to provide patients the with the care they need results in moral injury, and over time this leads to burnout and a loss of empathy.
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“Take a bright eyed healthcare student and put them into a healthcare system. It will change them. Sleep deprivation, long hours that isolate you from your friends and family, the blame culture, bullying…the dark side of medicine. It’s the best job in the world, right? But it comes at a price.”
Speaking of her own experience of burnout she argues that the resilience movement has placed too much onus on individual doctors, allowing the system to avoid all accountability for putting employees into a broken system and blaming them when ‘they inevitably break’. She argues that resilience should not be simply a personal responsibility but a ‘team sport’. Calling for a widespread culture change Sammy argues that unless we start looking after our doctors, we will have no-one left to look after our patients.
Speaking about her own journey, Sammy talks openly about finding herself on the other side of the NHS after going into premature labour as an A&E Registrar. After her son Joshua was born at 27 weeks, Sammy talks through the worst day of her life, when her son needed to be resuscitated and his life was in the hands of her colleagues.
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“Then a face around the door. A consultant we had never met in. “I’m sorry, I’ve not got good news”. With boundless compassion and endless empathy he told us what had happened to our son.”
Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden’s son Joshua born prematurely at 27 weeks. After being resuscitated with his life hanging in the balance, Sammy read Joshua Harry Potter. Hearing her voice, he rallied. Sammy went on to read Joshua a chapter of Harry Potter every night in NICU.
There was not a dry eye in the room as Sammy talked through Joshua’s heartbreaking journey through 3 months of intensive care. Paying tribute to the doctors and nurses whoshowed her family so much kindness, Sammy explains how this has forever deepened her already deep appreciation for the NHS, which saved her son’s life. After bringing Joshua home Sammy founded The Doctors’ Association UK, determined to fight for the NHS.
Talking about her son’s journey through 3 months of intensive care Sammy explains how Joshua became The Boy Who Lived. His fight inspired Sammy to fight for the NHS and found The Doctors’ Association UK.
Watch the full talk here on the TEDx platform:
