Reasons Not to Turf a Patient Whose "Belonging" in a Hospital Is Unclear

Through the lens of metaphor and the arts, this article aims to illuminate how persons who are ill tarry through uncertainty to receive care, and, in response, clinicians must resist turfing such patients in a health system that often confers upon patients unclear criteria for belonging. In addition, this article considers relationships among clinicians, patients, and their loved ones through the perspectives of Maris and Ludlow, characters in the book, A Hospital Odyssey, by Gwyneth Lewis. The article suggests that engaged curiosity and empathy are helpful responses to clinical detachment, distraction, and disengagement.