Angry patients

[moonwake]

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Been having to deal with a lot of ****ty people recently and I'm just curious what you do when a patient blames you for a certain outcome and/or gets aggressive (verbally, physically, etc.). If you have anything to get off your chest feel free.

 

[NeuroMaster316]

Not too related but while working as a lab trainee, I had to go along with my supervisor up on the floors to test for blood glucose levels. Anyway, we walk into this room and there's a male patient lying in bed and after we take his glucose levels he asks us what kind respectable hospital would let my wife sleep on a couch like that? (I think he's confused between a hospital and a hotel...)
My supervisor told him to inform the nurses (lol) about his concerns and we jettisoned outta there lol

 

[moonwake]

Not too related but while working as a lab trainee, I had to go along with my supervisor up on the floors to test for blood glucose levels. Anyway, we walk into this room and there's a male patient lying in bed and after we take his glucose levels he asks us what kind respectable hospital would let my wife sleep on a couch like that? (I think he's confused between a hospital and a hotel...)
My supervisor told him to inform the nurses (lol) about his concerns and we jettisoned outta there lol

yeah I figure a lot of people snapping at you would be when it's a super intense situation or their high as heck on pain meds. That's pretty funny

 

[SLC]

Been having to deal with a lot of ****ty people recently and I'm just curious what you do when a patient blames you for a certain outcome and/or gets aggressive (verbally, physically, etc.). If you have anything to get off your chest feel free.

Call them out on it. Don't be a dick, but don't let them project onto you either.

Just tell them that you don't appreciate their tone, and invite them to change it.

That or just roll with it and use their blaming you for crap as an invitation for them to seek care from someone else.

 

[moonwake]

Call them out on it. Don't be a dick, but don't let them project onto you either.

Just tell them that you don't appreciate their tone, and invite them to change it.

That or just roll with it and use their blaming you for crap as an invitation for them to seek care from someone else.

Good advice

 

[doctorjunior]

One time a patient was yelling at me because he didn't want to pay for his follow up, but also because the PA that examined him at his first visit was younger than him. It took all my self control not to say "Well, sir, that is what happens as you get older..."

Although I work in the front office so people think I'm incompetent and think they can walk all over me.

 

[SLC]

Good advice

It's what I see doctors do most often. Sane patients will usually chill when someone calls them out.

 

[DocVapor]

Haldol, benadryl, and ativan IM.

Then walk away like nothing happened.

 

[preDoGuy24]

Haldol, benadryl, and ativan IM.

Then walk away like nothing happened.

Ativan is what they are coming in for! to quote an ED doc i was with "if you keep feeding the animals they will never leave!"

In all seriousness aggression physically or verbally isn't okay, I don't put up with it. If they need a punching bag they can go to the gym.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Well... most people who come to a hospital aren't there for ****s and giggs... just be respectful and try to understand that everybody is going through something.

 

[doctorjunior]

There's a difference though in being angry because that's how you're expressing your pain and sickness and being personally angry at a doctor for whatever reason.

Irritation due to having the flu vs being angry that the doctor is younger than you or isn't telling you what you want to hear (which I think is ridiculous, you came here for a reason) is entirely different.

 

[osteohack10]

I find that most of my patients get most angry when they have "researched" their symptoms AKA googled it and then don't get abx for their cold.

Sometimes I just wonder why people came in if they already convinced themselves they knew the answer.

I find it's best to just be as kind as you can, and then find a minute to blow off steam before the next patient... Never good to start your next visit angry at the last one.

 

[Doctor Bob]

Well... most people who come to a hospital aren't there for ****s and giggs... just be respectful and try to understand that everybody is going through something.

There's a difference though in being angry because that's how you're expressing your pain and sickness and being personally angry at a doctor for whatever reason.

There's a learning curve in trying to figure out which patients go into which group. Most are just expressing misplaced anger, but yea, some are just jerks. Try to be nice, try to be understanding, but at the end of it, if the patient is just being a jerk, then don't stand for it.

If it's not acceptable behavior in any other venue, then it's not acceptable in my ED. If you're acting out because you don't know how to express your pain, that gets you a pass once, and then we will have a civil discussion about the proper way to behave and how we can work together to appropriately get you out of the discomfort you are in. If it continues to happen, so long as there is no threat to life/limb/organ system, it will get you kicked out.

 

[moonwake]

well for the record my wife has a friend who is one of those "Dr Phil elitists." Who questions everything you say no matter what letters are after your name or however many years you've been in the field. She made a post on Facebook the other day saying that her PC doc shut her down when she asked him questions (which in my book basically means she verbally assaulted him)- I'm a bad person because I took a lot of pleasure in seeing justice being served. 😀

 

[cbrons]

In the olden days, we had physicians who would straight-up read their patients the riot act and most patients were basically afraid of their own doctor. My pediatrician was exactly like this, the mothers would call up frustrated and want to take it out on him and he gave it right back to them x10. My mom even admitted she was afraid of him. Lol. He's in his mid 70s now and still practicing last I checked, and he's a very good physician.

In the 1980s and even 1990s, you didn't see hippie parents telling their old school pediatrician that their kids weren't getting their vaccinations.



Can't really be that brash with patients today, though. At least myself and the younger generation can't

 

[FutureInternist]

I just saw a guy that fired his cardiologist for telling him he had had an MI, and wouldn't go for LHC

Comes in for syncope 2/2 VTs & gets stents, pacer etc

 

[frimmyfrim]

Haldol, benadryl, and ativan IM.

Then walk away like nothing happened.

This is amazing. I enjoy most the walk away like nothing happened part.

I worked in a hospital as a CNA a few years ago and dealt with plenty of angry patients - especially since I was waking them up Q2 or Q4 on the night shift to take their vitals, along with other things. Agree with previous people that if it's misplaced anger, that I can understand. Otherwise, I would not put up with it and worked with fantastic nurses who backed me up and vice-versa. Power in numbers?

 

[hallowmann]

A lot of studies have actually found that doctors are pretty bad at reading the motives and emotions of their patients. As long as you are physically safe, I think it's worthwhile to cut most patients slack. There are times when you need to show strength and exert it, but in most cases I think there are alternatives.

 

[0ncogene]

Been having to deal with a lot of ****ty people recently and I'm just curious what you do when a patient blames you for a certain outcome and/or gets aggressive (verbally, physically, etc.). If you have anything to get off your chest feel free.

When patients or healthcare providers yell at me when they're having a bad day, I try to be extra nice to them in return. They usually feel really really bad afterwards. Then they apologize

 

[BDUS]

Been having to deal with a lot of ****ty people recently and I'm just curious what you do when a patient blames you for a certain outcome and/or gets aggressive (verbally, physically, etc.). If you have anything to get off your chest feel free.

If they are being aggressive step back and make sure you're out of harms way. I think most sane people even under pressure try to stay composed. If they are being aggressive try picturing them as having a psychiatric condition or a child having a tantrum. Keep your cool and don't go down to their level. Calmly listen to them and try to understand what they are trying to say.

 

[GUH]

I'm looking forward to seeing how belligerent patients are handled when I rotate through a state prison next year! They told us they literally have a prison guard in the room with you the whole time. I'll let you guys know what they do. 🙂

This is amazing. I enjoy most the walk away like nothing happened part.

I worked in a hospital as a CNA a few years ago and dealt with plenty of angry patients - especially since I was waking them up Q2 or Q4 on the night shift to take their vitals, along with other things. Agree with previous people that if it's misplaced anger, that I can understand. Otherwise, I would not put up with it and worked with fantastic nurses who backed me up and vice-versa. Power in numbers?

Dang... I wonder if it was really necessary for the doctors to order you to wake all of those patients up that frequently.

 

[deleted407021]

A lot of studies have actually found that doctors are pretty bad at reading the motives and emotions of their patients. As long as you are physically safe, I think it's worthwhile to cut most patients slack. There are times when you need to show strength and exert it, but in most cases I think there are alternatives.

Maybe that's one of the justifications for the new psych material on the MCAT? It's not as if that will really make a difference as that class is essentially memorizing definitions.
...

In the clinic where I work, if a patient gets angry or non-compliant, our clinic director tears them to shreds and straightens them back out. It's different when you're in a small environment where care is provided for free than in a hospital, I suppose.

 

[frimmyfrim]

I'm looking forward to seeing how belligerent patients are handled when I rotate through a state prison next year! They told us they literally have a prison guard in the room with you the whole time. I'll let you guys know what they do. 🙂


Dang... I wonder if it was really necessary for the doctors to order you to wake all of those patients up that frequently.

That's something the nurses and I would talk about frequently - it kept some people up all night and you wonder how that affecting their health. Some it was unfortunately necessary.