I have always felt that teamwork would be ideal, and it is. The problem though, in my experience, is that if palliative care is not the only specialty you practice, it’s difficult to set up.
I think the key qualities of teamwork are empathy, communication, patience, ability to communicate effectively and honestly and time.
I personally struggle with boundaries, most of my patients are long term and have life limiting diseases, with lots of medical problems. Often other doctors are overwhelmed by this diagnosis and will not share the load (eg. admit for a LRTI, etc) so I always make myself available (you see the problem…. help!!!)
Self-care practices include have a roster, exercise, I pray and journal (not around my patients but just general coping messages that stem from my readings). But to be honest, I don’t have a good self-care regimen and have found reading all the other participants ideas helpful, thanks you
