The patient is angry with you…
But you don’t know why…
Or maybe you do… Either way, this needs to be handled properly.
I’ve seen many students come to a complete stop when they were faced with a patient who became angry out of nowhere… It’s a challenge when they’re angry from the start, but it can really catch you off-guard when they become angry in the middle of the encounter.
In order to be able to navigate your way through an encounter with an angry patient, it is important that you go into your encounters with a strategy for handling each… So let’s take a look at what we can do to de-escalate the angry patient.
If they’re angry when you walk into the room… The easiest way to handle this patient is to ask them why they’re angry and then to offer an apology. Often times, an angry patient simply wants you to acknowledge their emotion and offer an apology. If you can do this, then nine times out of ten you’ll be able to quickly and easily de-escalate this situation.
If they become angry in the middle of the encounter… This is a bit of a shock for most students because it catches them completely off-guard. Just as with the patient who is angry from the start, consider telling the patient that you can see their anger and ask why they’re feeling this way. Based on what they’ll tell you, you can react accordingly. Most of the time you’re either dealing with a patient who is angry at something you said or because they’re recalling something that made them angry before… Your best bet is to simply ask why they’re mad, and if it’s something you said or did, offer an apology. If it’s not something you did, offer to listen and allow them to get it off their chest…
Your best best bet is to always seek a reason for a patient’s anger and to either offer an apology if it’s you or your staff’s fault, or offer to listen so they can get whatever it is that’s bothering them out in the open.
If you follow these simple steps, you’ll have what it takes to diffuse an angry patient… No matter what the cause may be.
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