Abstract
Many terminal patients pass away in cure-oriented medical centers. In these cases, there are often serious discrepancies in attitudes toward dying patients and death itself between health care workers (h. c. wokers) and patients and/or their family members. Death means "the first person" experience to patients, "the second person" experience to their family members, and "the third person" experience to h. c. wokers. Patients and their family members are used to being hurt psycho-socially in the process of life-prolonging- treatments. In addition, they are also used to not being satisfied with their needs of human dignity by h. c. workers who adhere to a bio-medical paradigm. Surely, it is not as easy for h. c. workers to keep "the second person" attitude toward a patient's death the same as that of a patient's family members. However, medical treatment as a human service should contribute to coping with the overall needs of patients and their family members. It is very true that patients and their family members have relationships with h.c. workers not to contribute to the development of medical science, but to receive their own physical, emotional, spiritural, and social comfort. Therefore, h. c. workers shuld embrace both a human life model as well as a bio-medical model. If h. c. workers are aware of their own real personhood, including life and death, prior to their professionalhood, they will provide their professional skill humanistically to each person who benefits from service. Providing psycho-social supports empower patients and their family members to be well and maintain their quality of life. In addition, h. c. workers themselves may learn the attitude toward death as "the second person". Finally, h. c. workers need to discuss why maintaining "the third person" attitude is detrimental to patients who are dying.
