The Socialization of Caregivers

The Socialization of Caregivers

HCA230 Communication Skills for the Health Care Professional

The Socialization of Caregivers

“Socialization is learning to behave appropriately within a specific community.”(du Pre, 2004, p. 85) Socially we are all expected to have a certain level of social skills to function in the workplace as well as our personal lives. (2003) When it comes to social skills in the healthcare industry this is especially true. When someone goes to medical school a majority of their curriculum is science based. Not much is addressed when it comes to socializing with patients. When a person goes to nursing school a majority of their curriculum is based around socialization with patients

The socialization process for a new caregiver can be loss of identity, privileged status, overwhelming responsibilities, withdrawal and resentment. In medical school new students basically go through boot camp. They are emotionally and physically molded to become a doctor. Having a feeling that the new student is not themselves anymore is a normal feeling when in school. When going through all the sleepless nights, long shifts and emotionally damage; most new doctors feel privileged to be called “doctor”. They wear the name with pride and they feel liked they earned it and deserve it. To be called a doctor has enormous responsibilities and they are expected to know what to do in any situation they are up against. In medical school they have these same responsibilities and justify become overwhelmed. Feeling overwhelmed can make the caregiver start to resent patients which makes them become more withdrawn. A patient demands a lot from a caregiver when in care. This can make the caregiver callused because they are constantly removing themselves emotionally from the situation.

Doctors are to provide adequate care while finding the balance of compassion and professionalism. Doctors tend to focus on what will benefit the patients’ health over how they are...