What do you do when a patient or their family makes unreasonable requests for tests or procedures?
I had a patient family load me up with requests the other day. I at least went through the motions of trying to please them, but they had a request for additional tests. I knew there was no way these tests would be done, and I said that to the family, but they started to get angry with me, so I deferred to the Dr. I paged him and he yelled at me. I mean YELLED. Would you have phoned?
How do you handle a family with unrealistic expectations? Let me give you an example..we all know hospital beds are uncomfortable, yet they are where patients have to lie. There is no getting around using a hospital bed, but they said they read online that beds in the ICU were "different" and they wanted one of those. AS IF.
That was just one in a long stream of "requests", all of which were unreasonable. They were setting me up to fail by asking for things, and I am still upset over being screamed at trying to keep them happy.
Several of my patients that are "mostly" grandmothers and mothers alike are trying to be a match-maker for their granddaughters and daughters "alike" and would ask me if I'm available!
I would jokingly get back at them by saying:
"I'm sorry. But that's just very inappropriate! "
(Followed by a few nano-seconds of "dead-cold" silence).
Then with a blurt....
"Is it ok if you and I would go out on a date instead?!
Is this considered an unreasonable request or unrealistic expectation?
I usually acknowledge the requests, and tell them I will let the md know, which i try to do when they are on the floor in person. But alot of times its the moment the doctor leaves the hospital that the questions start pouring in. So im thinking to myself, u just spent 20 + minutes with the doc at bedside and u now want me to page him this instant? If its a busy specialist I say, 'he is with his next patient (which also deserves his undivided attn btw) so when he rounds tomorrow i will make sure he knows and u can mention new questions that arise since his last visit. If they are freaking out or escalating I will page but its annoying.
Sometimes it seems like they erupt emotionally for us b/c they hold it all in to remain composed for doc and then they just break down. We are usually more receptive to emotional needs than the busy docs who are more down to business...(not all docs but most) so its their rn who they feel more comfortable losing it in front of!
The most frequent request I get is for more chairs. Uh, well, no because we only have one chair per room here in CVI, so the rest of you can just march back out to the waiting room and get comfy. The second of course is sodas. Sorry, we don't have those here in critical care. Cafeteria's on the first floor. The third most frequent request is Nurse, Nurse, come quick! Something's wrong with mom! The lines on that box up there were going up and down, now they're going all squiggly! Call the doctor! Hurry!
The most frequent request I get is for more chairs. Uh, well, no because we only have one chair per room here in CVI, so the rest of you can just march back out to the waiting room and get comfy. The second of course is sodas. Sorry, we don't have those here in critical care. Cafeteria's on the first floor. The third most frequent request is Nurse, Nurse, come quick! Something's wrong with mom! The lines on that box up there were going up and down, now they're going all squiggly! Call the doctor! Hurry!
Ugh we get the chairs a lot in the ER too. One of my facilities had a notice of 2 chairs per room so everyone can have visitors, so thankfully we could fall back on that. If we weren't over crowded in the ED and had empty rooms and it was a nice respectful family, I would bend the rules sometimes. I will bend over backwards for great patients and families.
Ben_Dover
254 Posts
Several of my patients that are "mostly" grandmothers and mothers alike are trying to be a match-maker for their granddaughters and daughters "alike" and would ask me if I'm available!
I would jokingly get back at them by saying:
"I'm sorry. But that's just very inappropriate! "
(Followed by a few nano-seconds of "dead-cold" silence).
Then with a blurt....
"Is it ok if you and I would go out on a date instead?!
Is this considered an unreasonable request or unrealistic expectation?