How to deal with patients/patient’s relatives asking for simple things.

I have a patient who is nice but the relative is very rude. She’d call the nurses from time to time asking for simle matters such as turning their room lights on/off, asking them to get some water, etc. which are things that they can do. How do you respond or handle such matter.

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I have a patient who is nice but the relative is very rude. She’d call the nurses from time to time asking for simle matters such as turning their room lights on/off, asking them to get some water, etc. which are things that they can do. How do you respond or handle such matter?

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Depends on what is meant by "from time to time" as far as I'm concerned, but in general I would start by pleasantly facilitating independence: "Sure - come with me and I'll show you where you can refill your water," or, "Sure - let me show you how to adjust the lights in here..."

If the problem is disruptive despite trying to facilitate independence it's a little more tricky; start with reminding them of what you showed them before: "I'm helping a patient right now, but it's okay to get water from the place I showed you before...."

If it's getting really unreasonable and interfering with the care of patients, I like to have admin buy-in on how it will be handled nowadays. I am kind and pleasant with people, but I have an exceedingly low tolerance for being criticized after the fact in situations like this.

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