Dealing with angry patients & family members

Dr. Padma Puppala

Anger often is either an expression of emotion derived from the patient’s situation and/or triggered by minor lapse, often unrelated

Billing erro

rs

Long waitingtimes

Unresponsive

staff

Getting caught in an altercation with one patient or a family member can interfere with

your effectiveness as a clinician and compromise care of other patients too

AngerPain

Fear & worry

Feeling unheard

Undiagnosed illness

When any patient appears to be “angry,” the presence of pain must be considered and treated as a matter of urgency

Hospitalization can be an intensely destabilizing experience for both the patient and his or her caregivers ;

“Physical, emotional & Financial”

Patient’s sometimes feel their requests are unheard, expectations are not met or they are not informed about their

condition, plan of management or risks involved

Calm, professional and empathetic approach is essential for establishing coherent dialogue and diffusing the situation

Anger is contagious

It can trigger fight or flight response in you

How we react…..

Try to solve the problem

Defend yourself or the person who upset

them

“Feelings first”

Universal upset person protocolDr. Dike Drummond

“Works for patients, colleagues, your partner, children and even complete strangers”

Regardless of what/who they are upset with, Either verbally upset or visibly upset, but silent

6 Steps of UUPPYou look upset

Tell me about it

I’m so sorry this is happening

What would you like me to help

Here is what we can do

Thank you for sharing your feelings

Acknowledge the emotion and encourage to speak and vent it out

An angry patient is unlikely to be receptive

to your explanation until his grief is fully

expressed

The patients' stories need to be heard. Careful listening is just a part of defusing the patient's anger

Active-listening involves repetitions, summaries, validations, and empathetic statements

Our curiosity about what has happened has a therapeutic effect.

By staying curious, we also avoid being defensive about ourselves.

By arguing, trying to judge or expressing opinions,a power struggle may ensue making things worse

Avoid being defensive

As clinicians, we usually do not know the details of what has happened, and we often cannot and need

not resolve the problems

Whatever the cause of anger may be, empathy can still be used to address the patient's emotions

Unfortunately difficult patients continue to exist.

You can’t beat them or throw them out

The term “difficult” is subjective. Differences in expertise and experience account for differences in perception

Summary

• Errors in hospitals would continue to happen• Sometimes, due to loopholes in processes• Face it; Don’t run away• Avoid being defensive or blaming people• Acknowledge patient’s emotion, empathize• Establish trust and diffuse situation• Learn from experiences by introspection