How do you deal with indignant patients that come to the Emergency Department asking for help and then refuse certain aspects of care.
Lately, I have had numerous patients simply refuse to put on a patient gown, they simply do not want to be bothered by putting on a gown. Most of our physicians really want (demand) patients be in a gown no matter the chief complaint. Then the physician comes out of the room and says, "she not in a gown, I want them in a gown".
I also have patients complaining of chest pain, so we start our chest pain protocol and then they say, no I won't wear this oxygen, no I don't want an IV, no I won't put on this gown, and why do I need an EKG. I sit there trying to reason with them, I explain the rationale, and I am getting to the point where I think, "hey you came HERE asking ME for help and now you are going pick and choose".
I get the whole loss of control, anxiety, pain, and fear of coming to the ED. I assess for other reasons that a person may not want to don a gown but seriously........I would not go into a business and then pick and choose certain things to downright refuse to do, like refuse to sign paper work at the bank or wait in line. How do you deal with this. I have come to the point where it is beginning to frustrate me. What do you say?
