Patient experience

Granola bars, gift cards and phone chargers: The little extras nurses carry to get colleagues and patients through tough times

Nurses hold the health-care system together, even as many are suffering from burnout and leaving the profession. In this photo-essay, nurses speak about the little things they carry with them to stay motivated and connect with patients and colleagues.

Sorry Not Sorry: How a hospital complaint system perpetuates harm after medical error

When hospitals harm patients, patient-relations departments provide insincere apologies and resort to other tactics to shield hospitals from accountability. I experienced this while coping with medical errors my late dad suffered as a cancer patient.

Secondary losses: The impact of the pandemic on Canadians with cancer

We're only beginning to understand the "secondary losses" of the pandemic. The immediate future of health care will likely be defined by the appearance of illnesses that flourished among the forgotten, patients who were inadvertently neglected.

Restoring dignity: A teenager’s insights into inpatient psychiatric admission

As a 19-year-old with bipolar disorder, I waited eight hours in the ER for a doctor. My brain may not have been bleeding, but I felt like my brain was on fire. Here's what I learned about improving care for patients experiencing a mental health crisis.

Advance care planning? Your future self might not thank you

Advance care planning takes for granted that any wishes about my care that I made in advance should guide the treatment I get when I'm incapacitated. But what if they actually shouldn't – because when incapacitated, I'm not the same person?

Smart bras, molecular imaging and genome sequencing: Innovations take on breast cancer

What if a bra, taking images like an MRI, could detect breast cancer? With recent technological innovations, there may soon be cheap, non-invasive ways to screen people for breast cancer in their own homes.

Our Surgeries, Ourselves

Columnist Anne Borden King combines meticulous research with moving reflections about living with breast cancer to expose an overlooked form of medical paternalism and explore the thought-provoking relationship between one’s body and most intimate self-image.

The patient as content

COVID-19 pushed doctors to the front of the cultural mainstream. But to maintain this status, some doctors share patients' medical information on social media, potentially undermining the doctor-patient relationship.

Not on the same team: Police presence in health-care settings is at odds with professional obligations and trauma-informed care

The presence of police in health-care settings can undermine the ability of doctors, nurses, and others to provide high-quality, patient-centred care. It's time we critically interrogated the role of police in these spaces.

Improving the health-care experience for autistic patients: The Autistic Health Access Project

Autistic people are leading seminars in medical schools about what it's like to experience the health-care system as an autistic patient. They hope that future doctors will work with these patients more collaboratively.

Humour really is the best medicine

Humour has an important place in medicine. It is a proven balm for patient experience, it improves our relationships with patients and is a resource for medical practitioners.  

‘I can’t take deep breaths anymore’: Some young adults feeling long-term effects from mild cases of COVID-19

Youth and young adults who had even mild cases of COVID-19 are experiencing lingering symptoms like shortness of breath for months. Recent research may shed some light on why.

‘Mindfulness’ for cancer patients: Has a popular trend gone too far?

In the rush to embrace mindfulness, cancer centres should be cautious and practice trauma-informed care.

A call to action: An approach to patient transfers for rural and remote communities in Canada

Healing Assembly Line Medicine

How "deep work," work performed in a state of intense focus, can improve a health-care system that leaves patients dissatisfied and physicians burned out.

#thatparent: The unfairly maligned ‘difficult’ parent in health care

The hashtag #thatparent is sometimes used by parents who are labelled "difficult" because of their advocacy in the health-care system. Why do we make them feel uncomfortable for trying to be the best parents they can be?

Health Care in Hues: Walk a Mile in Their Shoes

Where we as physicians and health-care providers strive to provide holistic care for our patients, our ability to impact their health and well-being is rooted in our ability to understand their perspectives and day-to-day challenges.

Teaching and learning to trust: the essence of medicine

The practice of medicine is predicated on trust. Our patients trust that we will do what is in their best interest. But how should we trust those we are teaching to be doctors?

‘Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always’: The importance of support networks

Brent Leonard poignantly describes the isolation of having an extremely rare, terminal illness to suggest that human connection may be the best solace for those whose conditions cannot be understood by medicine—let alone cured.

The challenges of health privacy: From the ER to virtual care

Though health privacy is now a larger focus in training, it can be hard to put into practice, causing systemic privacy breaches.