Wonder if your doctor is laughing at you?

By Sarah Arnquist

That CNN headline grabbed my attention and got me to read a column that basically chastises the 17 percent of internal medicine residents who reported they had laughed at patient in a survey published in JAMA.

The author then goes on to express great relief that 94 percent of those who find humor in their patients considered it unprofessional behavior.

Lighten up! Of course, no doctor -- or any professional for that matter -- should laugh in a patient or client's face or use humor maliciously. That's basic human decency.

But humor is a release, and in a work environment as stressful as a hospital, people need a release. Maybe that release should occur outside the hospital walls, but funny things occur in stressful environments and people do strange things that often merit a chuckle or two.

The author hints that this irreverence may harm patient care. Humor that is inappropriate or disrespectful may indicate a culture less open to quality improvement. But I would suggest that the whole notion that doctors should be above finding humor-- albeit appropriate humor -- in their work environment, of which patients comprise a huge part, suggests they are greater than human and puts them on a pedestal.

Doctors are human. Humans are imperfect. Humans find comfort in humor, and humans make errors. Thus, it is critical to create systems that reduce as much as possible the potential for error.

I welcome your comments, particularly from the doctors and nurses out there.