Routine Kills: The arrival of indifference in the modern healthcare system

Routine is an indispensable part of modern medicine. It structures workflows, creates efficiency and enables complex care systems to function. But it is precisely in this routine that an often-overlooked danger lies: the loss of attention, the dulling of awareness of the unusual, the gradual erosion of empathy.
This book examines the silent but profound effect of medical indifference - not as individual failure, but as a systemic phenomenon. It shows how structural constraints, economic logics and increasing standardization are pushing the human dimension of the healing arts into the background. It becomes clear that it is not spectacular mistakes that most often cause harm, but rather overlooking, not listening, and rashly categorizing.
The author draws on decades of experience in healthcare and combines analytical acuity with a deep understanding of the practice of medical and nursing work. She impressively demonstrates why it is urgently necessary to rethink the interpersonal dimension of medical encounters - and how this can be achieved.
This book argues for a return to the perception of the individual, to the importance of curiosity, attention and critical self-reflection - as essential elements of a medicine that wants to be more than just technique. A thought-provoking work about the limitations of routine care and the necessity of putting the human being back at the center of medical action.
Over the past 11 years, Bremen University Press has published over 4,700 specialist books in various languages.
1st edition 2025