Healthcare Culture

The Witt movie is a very emotional movie and very intellectual because it reflects on a woman named Vivian Bearing is a literal, hardnosed English Professor who has been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. During her story, she reflects on her reactions to the cycles of cancer takes, the treatment, and significant events in her life. The people that watch over her are Jason Posner, who only finds faith in being a doctor; Susie which is the nurse with a human side that is the only one in the hospital that cares for Bearing. Dr. Kelekian is the head doctor who wants results no matter what they are.

This movie gives people the truth about how some medical professionals treat their patients in the health field. Vivian is asked many times “how are you feeling?” so frequently and mechanically that it loses all meaning, and she remarks that she’s a bit sorry she won’t be able to hear herself being asked the question after she has just died. She is applying the analytical skills she honed as a scholar to her life, her condition and the health care system she confronts. As Vivian’s condition grows worse and her fear increases, she starts to question her assumptions about what matters in life.

Dr. Kelekian words see objective and rational, but are essentially euphemism when compared to the reality to human experience. He has many strengths by telling her what is going to happen after signing these papers but the one thing he does not budge on his putting her through pain. He wants to kill all of the cancer so he wants the highest dose of chemotherapy know matter what pain she is in. Since Kelekian is doing an experiment and using Vivian as the Gini pig she gets very sick and he has no empathy for her which is one of his weaknesses.

“Witt” has no interest in deifying the physicians, and who see it may object self- indulgence displayed by the research physician characters. The one person who cares and has many strengths is her primary care nurse Susie, who simply wants to provide Vivian with the care that is consistent with her professional obligation and with basic human decency, a goal which brings her into increasing conflict with the doctors pushing Vivian’s chemotherapy.

Susie care for Vivian like most nurses do because Vivian has no one else to take care of her. Vivian is facing quandaries and can no longer hide behind wit and intellectual games. Once She recovers slightly and tries to remain rational and detached, but only halfheartedly. Susie is there for Vivian during this hard time and giving Vivian kindness and comfort like being a family member, which Vivian has not had since her parent’s death but she accepts the love from Susie. Susie acknowledges her own non-intellectual nature.

John Posner, which is the student doctor has more weaknesses then strength. He tries too hard and comes off like he knows everything but with little care in his patient Vivian. He is former student of Professor Bearing, it is almost like he is uncomfortable around bearing. Jason is fascinated with cancer, that is why he decided to go into this field because it’s so powerful and mysterious in its unstoppable growth and science inability to understand it. He says that the endlessly replicating cancer cells grown in a lab are called “immortality in culture.” Vivian is trying to interact with Jason one-on-one personal level and talks about the important matters but Jason can still only see her as a specimen who might be experiencing certain side effect. His fascination with cancer shows his detachment from her being a human once again.

The doctors speak to Vivian in a detached manner, using medical terminology and careful phrases to avoid stating the fact of the matter, that she is going to die. Susie delivers the news in such a personal and compassionate way, as Jason or Kelekian certainly wouldn’t have been so comforting. Once Susie tells Vivian the news, Vivian makes a crucial decision that she wants to die, even if it means messing up the study and ruining her legacy as a “specimen” but Susie understands her decision.

Since I will be going into the field of cancer and a Nuclear Medicine Technologist, I reflect on this Video. I find this movie very touching and eye-opening on how medical professionals treat their patients. I have always been a kindhearted person and always willing to be there for people so I thought this field would be a good choice for me. After watching this movie, it has made me warm hearted through the tough times the patients are going through with their families. All I can do is listen and give them the most respect in treating the patient as a human being and not like a specimen.

An ethical theory that plays a part in the movie is when Vivian has the right to choose a DNR which allows her to withhold medical treatment if her heart stops from all the chemotherapy and she signs off on it without hesitation since she doesn’t have to suffer anymore from what she already is. Another ethical theory is decision making since she is the only one to make these decision with no family members to help her through this process, Susie steps in and helps her make her decision before it is too late. This goes in Vivian’s best interest and if she doesn’t make these decisions right away, the doctors will do everything to save her. Therefore, Vivian should have a written document with her healthcare proxy and physician orders for staining treatment.

One of the most touched ethical theories in this movie I thought was physician-patient relationship, the physician Dr. Kelekian decided what the right choice was for day one, which was giving Vivian the full dose of treatment. Another is the informative model when Dr. Kelekian gave Vivian all the info but in medical terminology; even though she is an English professor there are some words she did not understand and he only gave her facts but no values. I find her decision making based on a deliberative model for which Dr. Kelekian has persuaded her that this is the best treatment for her case.

In my opinion, there could have been many different ways of treatment for Vivian but Dr. Kelekian choose this in his best interest for his study in giving Vivian the highest dose of treatment and putting her through unbearable pain and discomfort leading her to want to sign off on the DNR so she can relieve herself through the pain and discomfort the medical staff have put her through. 

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