We saw Owen Hunt step back into teacher mode this week as he took it upon himself to show their new crop of young interns the importance of interacting with a patient's family when delivering bad news. The lessons he provided were a great reminder of the professional yet personally focused bearing that has made him such a compelling trauma surgeon.
When a group of elderly patients landed in the Emergency Room all of the doctors were overwhelmed by the increasingly heightened level of care that was required to treat their patients. When a young intern delivered painful news in a clumsy and hurtful way to a patient's family, Owen began his impromptu lesson for the interns.
He gathered the interns and quickly laid out the details for them - that out of 40 patients they'd already lost 14 and the family members of all of those patients were on their way to Grey Sloan Memorial for updates. Their job as surgeons, in this situation, was to treat their patients and to considerately and calmly help the family members who would be getting difficult, and sometimes devastating, news from them. The interns quailed at this news yet began to rise, albeit awkwardly, to the occasion as they put into motion the four steps Owen taught them.
First he advised, find a location which was calm, quiet, and in which the person won't be disturbed; next was language - don't sugarcoat the news or leave it open to interpretation; after that was body language - offer a comforting touch on the arm or pat on the back if it felt appropriate; and lastly, leave - let the family get on with the business of grieving without having to further interact with you, the person who has forever changed their lives by delivering news that a loved one was dead.
We further saw Owen in the background as their mentor as each of the interns tried to adhere to the steps he taught, most doing so with only limited success. What remained clear was that the interns benefitted from his personal focus on their need to learn one of the most challenging aspects of their jobs as surgeons outside the operating room.
Late in the episode we saw Meredith emotionally approach Owen regarding his lesson for the interns. As she took him to task for sending an intern to notify her patient of the death of her boyfriend, we saw Meredith shift into the pained wife who not that long ago received similar news from an inexperienced doctor when Derek died. The two surgeons then relayed the personal side of the steps Owen had been trying to teach to a room of interns who gravely took in her side of that story.
Elsewhere in the hospital: Meredith got an emotional hit to her heart once she'd finally settled into her new life after Derek's death; April and Arizona shored up their friendship; Maggie struggled with her attraction to Andrew while trying to remain professional in the workplace; Richard provided a compelling lesson to both the interns and Amelia; Alex played straight man to Jo who's gotten increasingly whiny; April continued to struggle to reach Jackson while he remained stoic; Amelia offered Stephanie a chance to coordinate her new approach to helping neurosurgery patients heal; the continued workplace competition Jo seemed to be feeling with Stephanie taught us a lot about both women; an elderly patient taught Arizona a lesson about life; and we finally met Callie's new girlfriend as the Grey sisters - Meredith, Maggie, and Amelia - hosted dinner at their shared abode.
When a group of elderly patients landed in the Emergency Room all of the doctors were overwhelmed by the increasingly heightened level of care that was required to treat their patients. When a young intern delivered painful news in a clumsy and hurtful way to a patient's family, Owen began his impromptu lesson for the interns.
He gathered the interns and quickly laid out the details for them - that out of 40 patients they'd already lost 14 and the family members of all of those patients were on their way to Grey Sloan Memorial for updates. Their job as surgeons, in this situation, was to treat their patients and to considerately and calmly help the family members who would be getting difficult, and sometimes devastating, news from them. The interns quailed at this news yet began to rise, albeit awkwardly, to the occasion as they put into motion the four steps Owen taught them.
First he advised, find a location which was calm, quiet, and in which the person won't be disturbed; next was language - don't sugarcoat the news or leave it open to interpretation; after that was body language - offer a comforting touch on the arm or pat on the back if it felt appropriate; and lastly, leave - let the family get on with the business of grieving without having to further interact with you, the person who has forever changed their lives by delivering news that a loved one was dead.
We further saw Owen in the background as their mentor as each of the interns tried to adhere to the steps he taught, most doing so with only limited success. What remained clear was that the interns benefitted from his personal focus on their need to learn one of the most challenging aspects of their jobs as surgeons outside the operating room.
Late in the episode we saw Meredith emotionally approach Owen regarding his lesson for the interns. As she took him to task for sending an intern to notify her patient of the death of her boyfriend, we saw Meredith shift into the pained wife who not that long ago received similar news from an inexperienced doctor when Derek died. The two surgeons then relayed the personal side of the steps Owen had been trying to teach to a room of interns who gravely took in her side of that story.
Elsewhere in the hospital: Meredith got an emotional hit to her heart once she'd finally settled into her new life after Derek's death; April and Arizona shored up their friendship; Maggie struggled with her attraction to Andrew while trying to remain professional in the workplace; Richard provided a compelling lesson to both the interns and Amelia; Alex played straight man to Jo who's gotten increasingly whiny; April continued to struggle to reach Jackson while he remained stoic; Amelia offered Stephanie a chance to coordinate her new approach to helping neurosurgery patients heal; the continued workplace competition Jo seemed to be feeling with Stephanie taught us a lot about both women; an elderly patient taught Arizona a lesson about life; and we finally met Callie's new girlfriend as the Grey sisters - Meredith, Maggie, and Amelia - hosted dinner at their shared abode.
