Whether you are a radiologic technologist, registered nurse or a physician, it's easy to become desensitized when faced with daily hardships of illness, trauma, loss of life, grieving, and lack medical insurance coverage. While we must be able to temporarily put aside our emotions in order to perform our jobs involving patient care, we should not forget about taking these things into account when caring for our patients. Understanding not only our patients' experiences, but the effects of their medical condition on their family members, financial status, and ability to undergo treatment can make a huge difference on how we implement their care and its effectiveness. These are my top 5 movies that, in my opinion, provide a broad range of perspective from various points of view. They also serve to periodically remind me of the reasons I entered the medical field.
Patch Adams: I wish more health care workers would take this kind of attitude to heart. While medicine is a serious field to be held with great respect, this movie reminds us that both the patient AND the disease need and deserve to be treated.
John Q: This movie is becoming more relative these days with health care reform / Obamacare. More and more families cannot afford health care, which makes it devastating to a father to know there is treatment available for his child, but he is unable to afford it. The tag line for this movie is perfect: "Give a father no options, and you leave him no choice."
Extraordinary Measures: I find myself watching this from the patient's father's perspective. So often it can feel like you are on different "teams" than your doctors, who are bound by certain rules and regulations. I love this story which shows how much can be accomplished when we work together and put everything you have into finding a solution.
Lorenzo's Oil: It is incredibly frustrating when there's no money for clinical research, therefore no cure for a rare disease that a family member is suffering from. This inspirational story, based on true events, is another example of what parents are willing to do when the health care system fails us.
The Doctor: One of the most under-rated movies ever! William Hurt plays an arrogant, narcissistic physician who has never heard of something we like to call "bedside manner". He undergoes a transformation of character when he becomes diagnosed with cancer.
These movies are great for shaping us to provide better patient care. Do you have any movies that you would put on a list for health care workers?
