How To Deliver Bad News Better
How To! with Mike Pesca
Peach Fish Projects
4.3 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2023
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
'I've got bad news' is a sentence no one wants to hear. But at some point, all of us will either have to deliver bad news or will be on the receiving end. So what can make these gut-wrenching conversations go less horribly? On this episode of How To!, co-host Amanda Ripley brings in Dr. Robert Arnold, co-founder of Vital Talk, and Maura, a social worker at a level one trauma center to talk about how to better communicate serious news. Because just about all of us can get a lot better at it — once we learn how.
If you liked this episode, check out: "How To Solve Your Own Medical Mystery."
Do you have a human-sized problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Podcast production by Derek John, Rosemary Belson, Kevin Bendis, and Jabari Butler.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi everyone, I'm Susie Weiss, and I've noticed there's just simply not enough podcasts in the world. So I'm launching my own. Let's go. Let's go, baby. Second Thought is a weekly show about pop culture. The stuff everyone's been binging, arguing about, obsessing over. Here's the thing about heated rivalry. I mean, even the most devoted swifties, I think we can agree, not our best work. We'll be hosting thoughtful conversations with culture's most important figures. Talk about genius. |
| 0:22.6 | Talk about generational talent. |
| 0:23.7 | Coming to headphones near you on can agree not our best work. We'll be hosting thoughtful conversations with culture's most important |
| 0:21.1 | figures. Talk about genius. Talk about generational talent. Coming to headphones near you on April 17th, |
| 0:25.9 | with a first guest you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:30.5 | Look, most people go into health care because they want to help people feel better. We don't |
| 0:36.8 | like it when people are sad. |
| 0:39.3 | And when you're anxious and you don't really like to do it, |
| 0:42.8 | you avoid or you hedge or you do all these things |
| 0:46.3 | that make the communication even worse. |
| 0:52.3 | Welcome to how to. I'm Amanda Ripley. |
| 0:55.6 | One sentence no one wants to hear is, I've got some bad news, especially if you're sitting in a hospital waiting room, hoping, praying for a loved one to be all right. |
| 1:08.0 | It's not easy to be the one delivering that bad news either. Here's Dr. Meredith |
| 1:12.8 | explaining this on Gray's Anatomy. When you walk into a rule to tell someone that their loved |
| 1:18.9 | one has died, it's more than just a list of bullet points you've memorized. Yours is the face they |
| 1:27.2 | will remember for the rest of their life. |
| 1:30.4 | You are changing this person's life forever. |
| 1:34.0 | You are responsible for this moment. |
| 1:37.1 | And that one moment can lead to even more heartache and confusion if handled poorly. |
| 1:43.6 | My name is Mara. I work as a social worker at a level |
| 1:47.5 | one trauma center. And Mara, how long have you been there? Oh my gosh, six and a half years. |
| 1:52.4 | How often do you have to deliver serious news? That's a good question. I would say it's nearly daily, sometimes multiple times a day. |
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