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.