“Listening Neglect”: A Mixed-Methods Study of How Families Feel Unheard in Hospitals
Staff across disciplines exhibited behaviors in making patients and families feel unheard, including disrespect, dismissive attitudes, underutilization of interpretation and translation, underdelivering on promises, inflexibility, and requiring families to escalate concerns to be heard. Hospital systems-level and clinician-level interventions are needed to address staff burnout and promote active listening, effective communication, and patient and family-centered care.
Authors
- Erin E. Shaughnessy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4685-4648)
- Shauna Schord
- Kathryn P. Gray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3287-3685)
- Helen Haskell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2131-7907)
- Allison Fleischer
- Tetyana L. Vasylyeva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3236-985X)
- Alisa Khan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1641-1061)
- Aleisha M. Nabower (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0486-0406)
- Tiffany Vara
- Sharon Calaman
- Sally McDonald
- Emilee Kendall
- Sharon Cray
- Bart Bailey
- Jennifer Baird (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8355-7984)
- Rachel D'Anna
- Cara Texler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9910-6002)
- Michael McDermott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9965-5418)
- Theresa Serra
- Angela L. Fan
- Katherine Melton
- Manya Soni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7995-9050)
- Tejaswini Jagadeesh
- Elizabeth Micolisin
- Marwa Elborki
- Jorge Olan
- Jazmin E. Arce
Institutions
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Boston Children's Hospital (US)
- Nebraska Medical Center (US)
- Nationwide Children's Hospital (US)
- Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Connecticut (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- University of Florida (US)
- Science Council (GB)
- Children's Hospital at Montefiore (US)
- Boston Children's Museum (US)
- New York University (US)
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (US)
- Florida College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PEDIATRICS
- Published
- 2025-09-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2024-070332
- Primary Topic
- Family and Patient Care in Intensive Care Units
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00