Curiosity: Client, Consumer, or Patient?

[Kiringat]

So, I guess in the big, wide world of medicine, the word "patient" is being replaced by "client" or "comsumer" for some PC, public relations reason. My school and our clinical hospitals are really pushing it, anyway.

I'm just wondering what you all prefer. Personally, I'm sticking with "patient" - the others just sound way to corporate and impersonal to me. Altough I do see that it would held with Pt. rights/empowerment, maybe therapeutic relationships too. What do you think?

[pooshx2]

In my nursing program they have us use client for tests, paperwork, etc, but use patient in the clinical setting. My friend who graduated in May and recently took the NCLEX said that it is helpful, since on the board exams they use the term client. Just my $0.02.

~Erica

[Kiringat]

Thankyou everybody!

[KsMICT]

Thank you for posting this. I noticed this in a patho class I just finished (even though the instructor would use "patient" and "client" interchangibly). I cannot stand the use of the word client in a medical setting. There is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with the word patient and we should vote with our mouths by refusing to use anything but patient. I am so sick of the micromanagment that comes from academics, administrators or anyone else who has spent more time in a classroom than in an emergency room yet believe practitioners "need to be more sensitive" in every which way they do their jobs. Yes, clients are for lawyers and stockbrokers. Health care professionals have patients!

For what it's worth the hospital in which I work does NOT use the term client and I don't think it would have much luck trying to get some of the nurses (or is the proper term Health Care Delivery Facilitators??) with 20-30 years of experience to use some feel-good, don't-hurt-my-precious-feelings term like client. UGH!