Dehumanization In Nursing

It was another day in the emergency department. Most of the staff were at their desks and on their computers. Someone must have said something funny because everyone had started laughing. As I approached closer, I could hear one of nurses talking and making fun of one of her patients for asking her to pull out her teeth. It was just a typical day in the emergency department.

The amount of jokes between hospital staff about their patients is startling. Indeed, laughter is the best medicine and a little bit of humor now and then can lighten up the workload. However, I don’t think it is appropriate nor professional to talk about patients in such a manner. According to the Code of Ethics of Nurses provision one, “The nurse practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person”. Talking about patients and making fun of them is a violation of the Code of Ethics. Ronald Berk, a professor at John Hopkins University, states, “Derogatory and cynical humor as displayed by medical personnel are forms of verbal abuse, disrespect and the dehumanization of their patients and themselves.”. Making jokes out of patients’ stories is a form of verbal abuse. In the clinical setting, nurses and physicians …show more content…
Therefore, the use of humor is a way to cope with stress at work. I believe there are better and healthier ways to mange stress. Nurses can debrief with their colleagues or supervisor after traumas or stressful events. At the end of each shift, nurses should have a certain amount of time set for debriefing about their days. This provides an opportunity for nurses to vent out their stress. Humor strengthens the connections between healthcare staff. Humor can foster working relationships but making fun of patients to improve workplace interactions is unsettling. The use of humor can be beneficial if it does not involve talking about