Professionalism and communication between healthcare professionals and between a doctor and his patient are the most important qualities a doctor can possess. These qualities are responsible for patient safety and reducing the possibility of medical errors. Perhaps the greatest and most lasting consequence of not adhering to these qualities is jeopardizing the safety of my future patients. This essay will illustrate the importance of professionalism and communication and the impact these qualities have on patient health. Professionalism in the medical field has its roots in the Hippocratic Oath. Recognized as one of the oldest binding documents in history, it requires, among other things, doctors to treat patients to the best of their ability and to preserve patient privacy. While this expectation of professionalism from physicians has not changed in over 2,000 years, a physician's work environment has undergone many changes, especially in recent decades. Although a doctor still has one-on-one meetings with their patients, it is a team effort. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In a hospital, the team of people who care for a patient is extremely large and complex. The definition of professionalism in such an environment is neither clear nor fixed. Wilkinson and two colleagues classified professionalism into five principles: adherence to the principles of ethical practice, effective interactions with patients and those important to patients, effective interactions with people working within the healthcare system, trustworthiness, and commitment to continuous improvement of skills. Caring for a patient is a team effort with the contributions of countless healthcare professionals. In the current medical field, a doctor is also subject to numerous policies and regulations imposed on him, which limit his discretion for patient safety. A doctor must do his best to be professional about the factors within his control. “A commitment to getting better, in my opinion, if I had to give up everything else, is what I would keep,” Wilkinson says. In other words, professionalism is a continuous process and every opportunity to enhance it must be exploited. Over the course of a 4-day hospital stay, a patient may interact with 50 different employees, including doctors, nurses, technicians and others. While areas of professional education and training may vary, each is important as one mistake or misstep by any healthcare provider can seriously compromise the quality of care. The importance of communication between healthcare professionals cannot be emphasized enough. According to the Joint Commission (formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, JCHAO), if medical errors appeared on the National Center for Health Statistics' list of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States, they would rank fifth, ahead of of accidents, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, as well as AIDS, breast cancer and gunshot wounds. To achieve good results from treatment, effective and efficient communication is important every step of the way. Without effective communication, decisions will be made based on incomplete information, instructions can easily be misinterpreted, and changes in state will be overlooked. This opens the door to medical errors and in some cases serious patient injury or death. Since this communication occurs between professionals with different schedules and areas of knowledge about the patient's condition and treatment, a systemStrong communication is critical to providing clinical care smoothly and efficiently. For this system to work properly, a certain level of trust and responsibility is needed between various professionals. Any errors or mistakes should be immediately highlighted and should be used to improve the system for the future. Due to cost constraints, the communication process must include the latest tools and methods to ensure maximum efficiency. Webster's Dictionary defines communication as "the transmission or exchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by words, writings, or signs." Communication provides a basis for collaboration between healthcare providers to provide the best outcomes for their patients. But a collaborative environment has other obstacles to overcome: additional time; perceived loss of autonomy; lack of trust or confidence in the decisions of others; conflicting perceptions; territorialism; and a provider's lack of awareness of the education, knowledge and skills possessed by colleagues in other disciplines and professions. A doctor's ability to maintain an effective communication process with their patients has a direct impact on the quality of results and patient satisfaction. Without good communication, a doctor will not get all the information needed to provide quality care, and treatment decisions will be based on incomplete data. This can not only lower the quality of care, but can easily lead to overall patient dissatisfaction. This patient dissatisfaction can lead to decreased patient compliance and decreased trust between physicians and their patients. Because patients and their caregivers are often inexperienced in explaining their condition, the doctor becomes responsible for getting all the information they need for proper diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Because patients are generally not adept at listing their concerns in order of importance, the doctor needs skill and patience to retrieve all the information he or she needs to provide quality care. This communication is a process and must be managed at every stage. Good communication has a direct impact on patient satisfaction by decreasing frustration, decreases anxiety, and improves patient compliance with treatment plans. In acute situations, a patient's perceived lack of good communication can exacerbate their condition. The doctor's stress level will also increase if this communication process does not work effectively because he or she will be working with insufficient data. Effective communication skills are a critical skill that every doctor needs. It is estimated that over a 40-year career, doctors will conduct between 150,000 and 200,000 interviews with patients and their families. Every small improvement in this skill will therefore bring enormous benefits. The lack of these skills will lead to a deterioration in the quality of care, dissatisfied patients and medical errors that could put the patient's life at risk. Due to time constraints, the doctor must also be efficient in this communication process. Time constraints must be managed without leaving the patient feeling rushed. The doctor must be able to direct the flow of the conversation and help the patient express the necessary information. Compassion comes from the Latin roots com, meaning 'together with', and pati, 'to endure or suffer'. It is defined as a “deep sympathy for the pain of others, with a need to alleviate their pain. a deep sympathy for the pain of others, with the need to alleviate their pain.” In general, this is one.