An op-ed video Physician, Say You’re Sorry by Drs. Tom Delbanco & Sigall K. Bell from Harvard Medical School, published by the New York Times November 25, 2008, illustrates the need for the medical profession in the United States to use restorative practices.
Mistakes and errors are a part of life including medical practice. How these errors are dealt with is critical for healing and preventing any further emotional pain and damage.
This insightful video points out that guilt, fear and isolation are the three common responses that patients, their families, and physicians suffer after medical errors occur.
Dr. Delbanco says that a problem in addressing medical errors on the human side has stemmed from doctors assuming that they know what a patient needs after a mistake has occurred. It’s not only doctors who make these false assumptions, but generally our whole society does too. Assuming an apology is enough for most people harmed is a mistaken assumption.
Restorative practices ask injured individuals and their loved ones: “How were you affected?” and “What do you need to repair the harm?” These simple questions give people some power in addressing their pain and in discovering what they need to heal. These restorative questions should be what doctors ask when mistakes have been made.