Breaking bad news

Unit 9
Learning outcome

At the end of this unit you will be able to:

 Deliver bad news.

 Reassure a patient or relative.
 Show empathy.
What is “bad news”?

Is any information that changes a person’s

view of the future in a negative way.

Mueller (2002)
 Rate the order of difficulty in
delivering the bad news to a patient
 Preparing the patient for bad
news

 Show empathy.
 Speak to the patient in a quite place.
 check what the patient understands and believes
about his illness.
 Find out what the patient wants to know.
SPIKES
Patient’s understanding of
his/her condition
Dealing with patient’s emotions
after bad news
Patient speak
Here are patient responding after hearing bad
news:
Patient speak
Here are some questions the patient asks about
their chances of surviving:
Patient’s response to doctor’s
prognosis
Thank You