Development of a training course to improve sharing bad news (SBN) skills in fertility care: the FertiCOMM

For each 10 women starting fertility treatment 7 receive news that their cycle failed (HFEA, 2019). Sharing bad news (SBN) is a daily occurrence in fertility care, including news of fertilization failure, recurrent miscarriage, etc.
SBN are a major challenge for patients and staff. After a failed cycle, 30% of men and 10% of women present a psychiatric disorder (e.g., depression). Patients who receive bad news experience unanticipated emotional or physical reactions (e.g., shock) and 47% express that staff could do better in SBN. Fertility staff perceive SBN as one of the biggest challenges of their job and report willingness to receive training.
Perception of insensitive care and mismanagement of psychological aspects are leading reasons why patients stop treatment and change clinics. SBN in a sensitive way is expected to result in better patient-centred-care experiences and higher patient satisfaction ratings. These are conducive to higher treatment uptake and, therefore, higher chances of conception.