Greeting: A Case for Microethics in Medical Communication

Abstract

Applying the lens of microethics, this essay analyzes the ethical meaning of greeting in medical communication. Although the importance of greeting is recognized in many healthcare communication guidelines, its ethical meaning is rarely considered. Drawing from patients’ stories, this essay describes ways in which a greeting or its absence may contribute to patients’ healing or be morally detrimental to them. It argues that greeting as a basic form of recognition welcomes patients in their embodied vulnerability and opens a space for their narrative inclusion.