The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly: Insights for Healthcare Professionals

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Introduction
The book ‘The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly’ by Jean Dominique Bauby provides deeper insights
for health and medical professionals with regard to humanity and ethics that is lost between
patients and healthcare and medical nurses today, or so it is believed to. The novel explores the
pain and uncertainty of living that a patient suffering from the locked-in syndrome experiences,
by highlighting the sufferings, memories, and mental situation of a man in a coma. In more ways
than one, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a reflection of the care and support offered by
physicians, and how the same has a troubling effect on the mental and physical condition of the
patient. Thus, The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly is an autopathography that medicine and
healthcare professionals can rely on and peruse in order to improve the quality of healthcare and
the amount of attention given to patients in severe conditions, such as the locked-in syndrome3.
Main ideas of the prompt
The beginning chapters of the story revolve around how Bauby is a successful magazine editor,
who has a sudden stroke and is left in a coma. After being rushed to the hospital, he realizes his
condition and the pain and disappointment that engulfs him motivates him to write a memoir
while his stay in the hospital. He does so by blinking his eyes to the letters read out by his
assistant and is able to communicate his ideas and sentiments by penning this memoir. Therefore,
one of the first and most important things that the story teaches us is communication1. Effective
communication is the key to the betterment and well-being of patients, both emotionally and
physically. For medical and health professionals, effective communication with patients is
emphasized to a great extent, which is also found to be a crucial tool in improving the quality of
patients’ lives. Communication serves as a foundation for ethical principles that are followed by

nurses and medical professionals and is highlighted as one of the most important tools in The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly5.
Another element included is isolation, which Bauby feels from the moment he is admitted in the
hospital. Because he is almost in a locked-in situation where he cannot feel his limbs or involve
in any movement, but his brain is sharp allowing him to think about his condition and go through
further pain and isolation. Thus, he starts looking at the hospital as a prison ward, especially after
noticing the freedom and carefree attitude of the nurses and residents in the hospital. The fact
that Bauby had turned like a newborn, where is unable to eat and shower on his own leaves him
helpless, sad, and isolated, despite having friends, family members, and nurses around. It also
goes to show the trapped situation that even nurses and health professionals feel in a healthcare
environment such as a hospital, owing to the low retention and high rates of burnout amongst
health and medicine experts9. This way, what Bauby feels is not necessarily true only for a
patient, but also holds true for nurses and care professionals who are trapped in their
responsibilities in their own ways. This leads to Bauby attempting to communicate and let his
feelings out by blinking his eye to the correct letters read out to him, which is also seen as the
needs for nurses to make patients more comfortable and to draw them out of their isolated minds
and bodies. In order to let out positivity in the patient and the environment as a whole, it is
important for nurses to try their best and communicate with patients that can help them
understand their situations better and thus, take appropriate measures to help them improve their
situation12. Simple things like kindness, caring, and effective and effortless communication can
turn out to be the best therapeutic gift for any patient admitted for complications like a coma.
Additionally, Bauby’s memories recorded in the ‘The Wheelchair’ shows the lack of care and
sympathy that nurses and physicians show to patients these days. “He is then dumped into a