Irate pts?

Specialties Ambulatory

Published

Is there a diplomatic way to correct irate pts that are yelling at us for being late? I had a pt sign in for the appt and we were running a little behind. Front desk asked if I could go ahead and grab that one because pt's mom had been irate about the wait time. I called pt back, and mom started yelling about how it's unacceptable that we're "always this late." Pt mom went on to scream that they'd been waiting over an hour already and if we can't be on time then she'd bill the doctor for the excessive wait. She then started yelling about how the nurse from the last visit didn't know what they were doing because pt got a bruise from the intradermal, and it's not supposed to bruise. When I finally got the pt into a room, I looked. Pt sign in time was five minutes late for the appt to begin with, and pt had been waiting 28 minutes when I called them back. Is there a way to politely point that out to the mom? Also, mom wound up asking the same nurse that "messed up" the previous test to do the new test we were doing that day!

Some people are just mean.

At our clinic, if a patient has a history of being verbally abusive, we can put them on a "behavioral contract." If they break it, they can be fired from the clinic.

Could you tell me a little more about the behavioral contract? Is it an actual written contract which is agreed to and signed by both parties? That sounds very interesting!

Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
Could you tell me a little more about the behavioral contract? Is it an actual written contract which is agreed to and signed by both parties? That sounds very interesting!

I have worked with behavioral contracts before in ambulatory care and in home health and hospice.

When patients and families like the one described here repeatedly behaves in a way that disrupts the delivery of care the team identifies the unacceptable behavior and develops a POC which addresses it specifically with expected behaviors and goals. The patient/family member is then brought into the office of the manager with the provider and other relevant staff present to discuss the needs of the patient and the behavior that will be expected and accepted while they are under the care of the team. All persons present sign the contract including any adjustments that are agreed upon during the meeting. The contract generally will indicate that discharge from the service with referral to another provider will result if the terms of the contract are not met.

It is important that the provider be a visible and willing part of the professional team that meets with the disruptive patient/family member. It is important that the patient/family member understands that their language or attitude is not welcome rather than assuming that the professionals simply don't want to hear criticism.

When patients sign in it is helpful if the reception staff notify them that their provider is running late. "Good morning Mrs Smith, Doctor Jones is running 45 minutes late today. Would you prefer to wait or would you like to reschedule?"

Thank you so much, toomuchbaloney ! That is very helpful.

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