Acquiring skills to perform the conversation
The healthcare professionals initiate that the conversation about
treatment limitation is a skill that you do not learn beforehand but
improves by getting more experience . “When I just
started as a doctor I used to only have the conversations about
treatment limitations with patients I thought it was necessary, but I
don’t do that anymore. Now I talk about treatment limitations with all
of my patients” [Interview 4]. The residents mentioned that they
often struggle with these conversations and that it is very important to
involve the supervisor to get guidance whenever the situation is
difficult. “In general, I just started working and this
[conversation about treatment limitation] is something you don’t
learn in school or during the internships, personally I find the
conversations about treatment limitations often difficult and hard”
[Interview 5]. The residents mentioned that sometimes it is helpful
to use the opinion of experts like the geriatrician or the
intensivist.