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Responding to Callous Humor in Health Care

Nicole M Piemonte1, Shawn Abreu2

  • 1Assistant dean for medical education at Creighton University School of Medicine Phoenix Regional Campus in Arizona.

AMA Journal of Ethics
|August 4, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Callous humor in healthcare damages patient-clinician relationships and trust. It should not be tolerated, and this article explains how to address it effectively.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Ethics
  • Healthcare Communication
  • Professionalism in Medicine

Background:

  • Humor can enhance patient-clinician relationships.
  • Callous humor, however, can harm these relationships by dismissing patient emotions and vulnerability.
  • The negative impact extends to collegiality, training, and overall patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the detrimental effects of callous humor in healthcare settings.
  • To emphasize the importance of responding to colleagues who use callous humor.
  • To provide guidance on how to address such behavior.

Main Methods:

  • This article is a conceptual analysis and ethical discussion.
  • It examines the impact of callous humor on therapeutic relationships and professional conduct.
  • It synthesizes ethical principles and communication strategies.

Main Results:

  • Callous humor undermines trust and disregards patient vulnerability.
  • It negatively affects the learning environment and quality of care.
  • Failure to address callous humor perpetuates a harmful culture.

Conclusions:

  • Callous humor is detrimental and should not be tolerated in healthcare.
  • Healthcare professionals have an ethical obligation to respond to colleagues using callous humor.
  • Effective communication strategies are necessary to address and prevent callous humor.

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