Breaking Bad News Skills of Doctors and Residents in the Surgical Setting

Breaking bad news is a very stressful and difficult situation for health care professionals, especially clinical doctors and surgeons. Acquiring skills for this sort of communication is very important due to the large volume of times that these professionals will have to deal with it and because it can affect the doctor-patient relationship forever. The objective of this study is to evaluate the skill of surgeons and residents in surgical specialties in breaking bad news to patients and families across Spanish hospitals. This will be done by analyzing the subjects in terms of their knowledge and experience using a specialized questionnaire based on breaking bad news protocol, designed in the "Hospital Sant Joan de Déu" Children's hospital in Barcelona.