Film Analysis - Wit

This study analyzes the 2001 American film 'Wit' to explore therapeutic communication. It examines effective and ineffective communication, the impact of the film, gaps in learning, and plans for improvement in therapeutic communication.

FILM ANALYSIS –WIT
0

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Part 1................................................................................................................................................2
Effective communication.............................................................................................................2
Ineffective communication..........................................................................................................3
Part 2................................................................................................................................................4
Impact of the film.........................................................................................................................4
Gaps in my learning.....................................................................................................................4
Plans for improvement in therapeutic communication................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Reference list...................................................................................................................................6
1

Introduction
Therapeutic communication refers to the face to face interactive process to facilitate the
interaction between the health care professionals and the patient in order to improve the well
being of the patient. In this study, the 2001 American film namely ‘Wit’ has been analysed in
order to delve deeper into the realm of therapeutic communication.
Part 1
Effective communication
In this film, very few instances of a proper therapeutic communication have been showed.. In the
movie, there was only one character/nurse namely Susie who showed the ideal therapeutic nurse-
patient relationship in the movie by showing both care and respect towards Vivian. According to
Webster (2013), care and respect are two vital elements in therapeutic communication However,
Susie was not aware of the professional obligations of being a health care professional as much
as the other intellectual doctors and researchers did. As an outcome of her therapeutic
communicative skills, some of the positive outcomes of health care communication have been
achieved.
For example, safety in therapeutic communication can be owned by creating the area of trust in
the minds of the patients for the health care professionals and especially for the nurses. Susie
succeeded in developing trust within Vivian through her skills of social interaction (Wit 2001).
This scenario has been highlighted when Vivian was seen to be battling with an advanced stage
cancer and the aftermaths of aggressive chemotherapy. At that time, she went through both
physical and mental breakdowns and that could not be healed by medicines only. She needed a
person to talk to. Being mentally homeless, Vivian was unable to talk to her family members
about how she felt during that time. Thus, Susie was there for her so that she could interact with
her at that crucial time of her treatment. This kind of interactions gives a sense of security to the
patients while spending days amidst unknown people.
This film also shows excellence while depicting therapeutic interaction through the character
portrayal of Susie, the nurse. The element of excellence was seen after Vivian died and Doctor
2

Posner felt that he should try to revive Vivian disregarding Vivian’s status as being DNR. Susie
was the one who stopped the doctor from doing so because it was what Vivian wished for before
she died. Advocacy is one of the most important grounds of a healthy nurse-patient relationship.
This element helps the nurse to talk on behalf of the patient to the doctors or to other health care
professionals. Thus, advocacy has been shown multiple times by Susie when Vivian was alive
and she tried to stop the doctors from experimenting with her chemotherapeutic sessions (Fonagy
and Allison, 2014). She kept this quality even after Vivian died.
Ineffective communication
Despite the fact that all the intellectual doctors were aware of what a patient can go through
during a long and aggressive chemotherapy, they did not show any kind of mental support to
Vivian in the movie. However, it was essential in her case because the fear of getting isolated
and depression are two of the common mental illnesses that can attack anyone diagnosed with
‘cancer’. Still, lack of social interaction has been noticed from most of those intellectual medical
persons in the hospital (Imran, 2013). She was treated like any other patients in the hospital
while she was going through a terminal disease unlike others. In other words, Vivian was treated
like a ‘guinea pig’ by the health care professionals who were more concerned with their research
agenda and not with her. The treatment that she agreed to was suggested by the doctor because
he wanted to test his experimental medical intervention by using that on her. So, quality of health
care has been hugely suffered because the health care professionals ignored the importance of
therapeutic communication.
The depiction of the overall quality of medical treatment was awful in the movie. For example,
doctor Posner showed insensitivity whenever he appeared on the screen. He used to formally ask
Vivian ‘how are you feeling today’ whenever they met without realizing that she was going
through an unending pain that kept worsening day by day. Self indulgence of the health care
system has been given more importance by the health care professionals depicted in the film
rather than giving heed to the well being of the patients (Annoni and Miller, 2016). As a result,
the movie has become a perfect example of the modern health care system who charges a huge
amount of money but fail to provide a quality care to the patients.
3

Part 2
Impact of the film
Some of the aspects of showing a healthy therapeutic communication are distraction, relaxation,
interaction and mental support. I already knew about some of the above mentioned interventions.
However, after watching the movie, I realized the importance of these non-pharmacological
elements while treating a patient with an advanced level of cancer. Management of pain is
another responsibility of the nurses while dealing with the patients. From the depiction of
assessing the medical condition of the patient Vivian, I understood one thing that is the nurses
need to regularly keep an eye on the patients so that they can evaluate the results of the given
medications on the health condition of the patients (Kourkouta and Papathanasiou, 2014). Apart
from that, the film is a perfect way to understand what not to do by the health care professionals.
There is a difference between normal social interaction and therapeutic interaction. This
difference can be realized by seeing the film. For example, doctor Posner showed a demo of
every day social interaction by asking Vivian how her day went on a regular basis. This enquiry
could have been suitable if Vivian would not be a terminal patient and whose health condition
could be improved. So, being in the field of this area of heath care, it was very helpful for me to
know how different kinds of therapeutic communication works.
Gaps in my learning
During my lessons, I have read that objectivity is one of the vital aspects in therapeutic
communication. This objectivity allows the nurses or other health care professionals to maintain
a professional distance from the patients while interacting with them. However, there is a very
strong difference between being professionally distant and being mechanical. I realized this
difference by analysing the character of doctor Posner who showed cold greeting gestures and
not objective interaction. Another lack in my learning was that I used to think that therapeutic
interaction can only be shown verbally (McKenna et al. 2014). However, silence is one of the
useful communicative skills in the field of nursing. This has been brilliantly portrayed by Susie
who used to listen to Vivian without interfering in her opinions.
4

Plans for improvement in therapeutic communication
Therapeutic communication can be seen as an integral part of providing the advanced level of
health care. For that reason, I can think of adapting some health care strategies to improve the
therapeutic communication with the patients. For example, I can implement the strategy of
interprofessional collaboration. According to Greenberg (2014), this strategy allows the whole
health care team in the institution to collaborate with the patients, their families and with each
other to provide a high class treatment to the patients. In the field of nursing, I need to constantly
interact with the patients in order to keep a record about how much they are in. by doing that, I
can report the information to the doctors so that they can come up with more suitable pain
management medications for the patients.
On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, relaxation is another thing that can help mainly the
terminal patients to get over the situation they go through at least for a time being (). For that
reason, I can use the technique of massage while bathing the patient. These can relief the patient
from pain. Family can be proven to be one of the most useful elements who can help the patients
to go through their periods of medical interventions. Thus, being a nurse, I can suggest the
patients to spend more time with their families.
Trust building is another vital aspect of therapeutic communication (Rivier University 2019). I
can develop trust within the minds of the patients by making them aware that I am on their side.
For that reason, I need to be available for them so that I can listen to what they have to say about
their condition. After that, my responsibility will be advising the doctors to give heed to the
information collected from the patient. In addition, being a nurse, I need to accept what the
patients are saying even if it seems difficult (National Commission on Correctional Health Care
2019). For that reason, phrases like ‘I can understand’ can be used so that the patients can think
that I am taking them seriously.
Conclusion
So, in this study, the analysis of the film namely ‘Wit’ and other literary sources have been used
to discuss the important areas of therapeutic communication. In addition, my personal reflection
has been depicted in this study along with providing a detailed plan that can improve my
therapeutic communication skills.
5

Reference list
Annoni, M. and Miller, F.G., 2016. Placebo effects and the ethics of therapeutic communication:
a pragmatic perspective. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 26(1), pp.79-103.
Fonagy, P. and Allison, E., 2014. The role of mentalizing and epistemic trust in the therapeutic
relationship. Psychotherapy, 51(3), p.372.
Greenberg, L., 2014. The therapeutic relationship in emotion-focused
therapy. Psychotherapy, 51(3), p.350.
Imran, S., 2013. Evaluation of communication skills training program for nursing students to
develop supportive ward atmosphere during care of patients with cancer. International Journal
of Nursing Education, 5(1), pp.222-227.
Kourkouta, L. and Papathanasiou, I.V., 2014. Communication in nursing practice. Materia socio-
medica, 26(1), p.65.
McKenna, L., Brown, T., Boyle, M., Williams, B., Palermo, C. and Molloy, E., 2014. Listening
and communication styles in nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education and
Practice, 4(11), p.50.
National Commission on Correctional Health Care 2019, Therapeutic Communication and
Behavioral Management, Available at: https://www.ncchc.org/cnp-therapeutic-communication
[Accessed on: 31/3/2019]
Rivier university 2019, 17 Therapeutic Communication Techniques, Available at:
https://online.rivier.edu/therapeutic-communication-techniques/ [Accessed on: 31/3/2019]
Webster, D., 2013. Promoting therapeutic communication and patient-centered care using
standardized patients. Journal of Nursing Education, 52(11), pp.645-648.
Wit 2001, Motion Picture, HBO Films: New York.
6