Table 4.
Physician respondents’ reactions while experiencing strong emotions in the presence of patients
| Categories of reactions | Indicators | No. (%)a |
|---|---|---|
| Touching the patient | Touching/holding the patient’s hand; hugging; shaking hands | 13 (18.6) |
| Performing medical procedures | Writing a prescription; starting life support | 10 (14.3) |
| Withdrawing from the situation | Leaving the room; avoiding the patient (eg, telling him to switch physicians, passing the telephone to another physician); refusing to see the patient | 9 (12.9) |
| Providing support | Maintaining silence, respect, presence; comforting, attempting to understand or to communicate empathically; offering material help (money, goods) | 8 (11.4) |
| Choking up/crying | Showing grief; feeling moved; unable to speak; crying | 8 (11.4) |
| Imposing oneself | Speaking with authority; raising tone of voice; shouting; gesticulating; shaking one’s head; getting up; walking back and forth | 7 (10.0) |
| Smiling | 5 (7.1) | |
| Defending oneself | Explicitly legitimizing one’s perspective | 4 (5.7) |
| Explaining | Providing clarification, including one physician who looked at the patient’s eyes and assumed responsibility for what happened | 4 (5.7) |
| Expelling the patient | Standing up and ending the consultation, expelling the patient | 2 (2.9) |
a
N = 70 respondents reported reactions.