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WIT Film Assessment
Student Name
Minnesota State University, Mankato
NURS 402 Psychosocial/Inter-professional Communication for RN’s
Dr. Ellen Vorbeck DNP, ANP-BC, APRN
Date:
WIT Film Assessment
The film WIT staring Emma Thompson follows a professor of English literature on her journey through terminal cancer. The main character Dr. Vivian Bearing enrolls in an experimental chemo therapy treatment which requires several inpatient hospitalizations during treatment. Her doctor and his students monitor her care during the treatments. One of the students actually knew Dr. Bearing as he took her class in college. In life Dr. Bearing had few close relationships so the hospital staff become her main support. The nurse who cares for her primarily is named Susie. The film follows the emotional journey of going through these rigorous treatments up to Dr. Bearings eventual death. (Nichols, 2001)
Role of the Nurse
Dr. Bearing and Susie form a bond during all the treatments. Susie plays many roles in Dr. Bearings life while she is hospitalized. The first very obvious role is as a nurse. Susie remains professional while educating Dr. Bearing about procedures, medications and tests. Susie assesses Dr. Bearing routinely for signs of improvement or decline both verbally and nonverbally. Verbally Susie would ask Dr. Bearing about symptoms. Non verbally she would assess how Dr. bearing looked and if she seemed to have discomfort. (Wanko, 2020) This was very apparent when Dr. Bearing arrived in the emergency department with neutropenia. Susie had to quickly assess her to be able to start treatments as fast as possible. (Nichols, 2001)
Nurse Susie became a confidante throughout the treatments. As Dr. Bearing and Susie interacted the relationship became deeper than nurse and patient. When Dr. Bearing was awake one night she was emotional and occluded her IV to get attention from Susie. Dr. Bearing spoke to Susie about the emotions she was having. As Dr. Bearing became more emotional Susie listened and supported her. Reassuring Dr. Bearing that it was alright to feel these things while remaining attentive to her needs such as getting a tissue and a popsicle for her. (Nichols, 2001)
Dr. Bearing was a doctor of philosophy but had very little medical knowledge going into these treatments. Susie became an educator for Dr. Bearing. She assisted Dr. Bearing in understanding many things but most important was a conversation about code status. Susie found an appropriate time to discuss this difficult topic. Then she stated the patient’s current condition as a reason to have the discussion. Susie explained what both full code and DNR options include. She then allowed the patient to ask questions and decide what she wanted. (Nichols, 2001)
In the film Susie became an advocate for Dr. Bearing. This was seen several times from the first meeting with the patient in the exam room when Susie asked the doctor “Why did you leave her like this?” That interaction showed Dr. Bearing she was a person to Susie not just a patient. Then towards the end of the film when Dr. Bearing died and the code team was summoned Susie had to advocate assertively for them to stop lifesaving attempts. She knew what the patient wanted and fought hard to allow Dr. Bearings death to be peaceful. (Nichols, 2001)
Reaction to the Movie
This film shows Dr. Bearing going through all the emotions of her death. `Personally I did not feel a lot of emotions watching the film. I can relate to the main character in her very straight forward outlook of the cancer treatments. She is always calculating the facts and attempting to learn from the experiences. (Nichols, 2001)I tend to do that when I am going through any situation. However, I am not as cold when I am interacting with others. Dr. Bearing shows very little emotions when first dealing with her cancer but evolves to more emotional range as the treatments continue.
The main character was displaying a lot of different emotions during the processing of her eventual death. During the film Dr. Bearing went through several stages of grief to process her death. (Gorman, 2008) During these stages she increased her interpersonal relationships especially with Susie. This has been shown as a side effect of death acceptance in cancer patients. (Philipp, 2020) These emotional changes did seem realistic. I watched my grandmother die of cancer and she exhibited several of the same emotions and behaviors in the film.
Impact on Future Practice
This film showed me a side of healthcare that I have not dealt with much. I am typically the family member but rarely the patient in recent years. Having to deal with all the medical staff in an unfamiliar environment from Dr. Bearings perspective was a little overwhelming. I now look at how I approach my patients and how often I ask “How are you feeling today.” (Nichols, 2001) I am typically uncomfortable getting in closer relationships with my patients. This is something that was very natural for Susie and Dr. Bearing. I am going to work on looking for the signs that a patient wants that closer relationship and attempt to be more supportive of my patient’s emotional health in those situations. I feel that seeing this relationship play out in the film will help me moving forward with that goal.
Summary
The film Wit showed a very difficult time in a person’s life in a way that gave meaning to the relationships she developed from those experiences. The major relationship was between the cancer patient Dr. Bearing and her nurse Susie. Although Susie was her professional nurse they developed a deeper bond where Susie took on more roles in Dr. Bearings life. This film helps nurses see the importance of communication in healthcare along with interpersonal relationship development. As the film progresses and the death of the main character is imminent the emotional journey teaches nurses how to approach difficult topics. Also shows how to help soothe a patient in distress.
References
Balzer-Riley, J. W. (2017).
Communication in nursing (8th ed.). Elsevier.
Gorman, L. M., Sultan D. F. (2008).
Psychosocial Nursing for General Patient Care (3rd ed.). F.A. Davis Company.
Nichols, M. (Director). (2001).
Wit[Film]. HBO Home Video.
Philipp, R., Mehnert, A., Muller, V., Reck, M., & Vehling, S. (2020) Perceived relatedness, death acceptance, and demoralization in patients with cancer. Supportive Care in Cancer, 28, 2693-2700.
Wanko Keutchafo, E. L., Kerr, J., & Jarvis, M. A. (2020). Evidence of nonverbal communication between nurses and older adults: a scoping review. BMC Nursing, 19(1), 1–53.
