Stigmas are everywhere in the world today, like it or not. Unfortunately, they are alive and well in our healthcare industry, on both sides of the spectrum. As if providing good healthcare as a nurse or receiving it as a patient were not enough of a challenge, there are emotional and mental burdens that also come with the territory. These stigmas are not easy to acknowledge or admit, let alone talk about freely.
A survey conducted by Wakefield Research and supported by Convatec revealed the following responses from both patients and caregivers:
87%
of patients or their caregivers felt a level of stigma directly related to health conditions
44%
of respondents felt embarrassed talking about health conditions, while 43% thought their condition wasn’t regularly spoken about or represented justly in the media
99%
Nearly all of patients and caregivers felt that ‘healthcare stigmas’ had negative impact, particularly in terms of slowing the perceived healing of a patient
56%
Over half of patients reported that they would prefer more time talking with their medical team
96%
Almost all patients and caregivers desired more information concerning health conditions, with 53% stating that they would like this information came through conversations with their medical team
68%
More than 2/3 of nurses felt they were unable to fully support their patients, with 96% of nurses stating they needed more time, resources, and education to properly care for their patients
60%
of nurses responded that they were ‘less than completely comfortable’ regarding speaking with their patients about their current health conditions
