Why is the term client used instead of patient?

[LauraLou]

This may be a silly question, but I am in my first semester of nursing school. All my professors refer to patients as clients. Is there a reason why the term client is used instead of patient? Does the word patient imply something negative that I'm not aware of? It just seems a little strange to me.

Thanks!

[Jolie, BSN]

It's all about political correctness.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Patient implies illness, and thus dependence. Client implies that we are there for their wellness and thus their have a part in that wellness.

The buzzword now in a lot of organizations is "customer".

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

As I understand it, "patient" is considered demeaning, as though the receiver of health services were of lower status than the provider(s).

In the real world, however, we have "patients", or in the case of long-term care facilities, "residents". I think we have resisted the use of the term "client" to some degree because of its negative association with the term "customer", and many of us absolutely despise the "customer service" angle health care corporations now use to attract more, uh, clients than their competition. To nurses, it usually means sitting through frequent inservices on customer relations.........which means we're supposed to behave like good little WalMart greeters and say "Yes, sir" and "No, ma'am" and "Would you like paper or plastic?"

Personally, I think "client" is a more appropriate term for people receiving health services in the home and/or the community.

[live4today, RN]

To me..........."Client" implies they are paying me a fee for my services that is to my satisfaction for the healthcare I provide them.

To me..........."Patient" implies one who is dependent on a team of healthcare providers to reach their level of optimal wellness for whatever ails them.

If I were a Private Duty Nurse, I would have no problem referring to them as my clients.

As a bedside nurse, they will always be known by me to be patients.

Attorneys bill their clients, doctors bill for individual treatment rendered to their patients, and Insurance Salespersons refer to their customers as clients.

Clients tend to carry more of a "I'll pay you for the services rendered" mentality.

They may be the "hospitals" clients since they reel them in for their money.

[plumeria]

"Client" was new to me, too, and completely foreign. I do not associate anything negative with the term "patient," but others probably do. It was explained to me that "client" connotates the ability to pick and choose which health care facility to utilize. To me, a patient does that, too, but for those in administration or in the business side of health care, patients are customers/clients. In day to day care, I use the term patient, not client or customer; so do my co-workers.

[roxannekkb]

It's healthcare newspeak, to call patients "clients." Only it's not that new. I guess they've been trying for about 20 years now--or more--to get nurses to believe that patients are their clients. However, I have never used that term, and I have never heard any nurse refer to a patient as client or customer.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I refuse to use that term also . .

Just another example of political correctness . . . blech.

steph

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

When i hear the word "client", i think of the Hair Club for Men commercials.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

To me..........."Client" implies they are paying me a fee for my services that is to my satisfaction for the healthcare I provide them.

To me..........."Patient" implies one who is dependent on a team of healthcare providers to reach their level of optimal wellness for whatever ails them.

If I were a Private Duty Nurse, I would have no problem referring to them as my clients.

As a bedside nurse, they will always be known by me to be patients.

Attorneys bill their clients, doctors bill for individual treatment rendered to their patients, and Insurance Salespersons refer to their customers as clients.

Clients tend to carry more of a "I'll pay you for the services rendered" mentality.

They may be the "hospitals" clients since they reel them in for their money.

Exactly right Renee.

[zenman]

"Patient" implies someone that is dependant and has no say so in their care. "Client" infers that the person collaborates with the healthcare team in planning their care.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Originally posted by zenman

"Patient" implies someone that is dependant and has no say so in their care. "Client" infers that the person collaborates with the healthcare team in planning their care.

Maybe so but . . . . still . . . . blech.

steph