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Communicating With Upset Patients
Sooner or later every medical assistant is confronted by a patient who is upset. It is difficult to not feel personally offended, especially when one has gone to great lengths to assist the person who is upset. We all work hard at our jobs, and it is never easy to have someone upset with us, especially about something we have absolutely no control over. Having said that, however, experts in anger management agree that the worst possible reaction is to take another person being upset personally.
When confronted with an upset patient, watch carefully for aggression, which is different from anger. Anger is a feeling, whereas aggression is an action. Anger can escalate into aggression. One way to watch for aggression is to observe body language. Notice the patient’s hands. Fists are aggressive tools. Pounding on a counter or jabbing a finger at someone is an aggressive action. Watch for aggressive language aimed at you personally, such as name calling. One thing you can do to help the situation is keep your own body language as nonthreatening and open as possible.
Have a plan before you sense danger, and when you do, follow office protocol. Your office may have signals for getting help, such as paging a fictitious person, pushing a panic button, and so forth. You need to keep yourself safe, and you should always keep safety in mind. Thankfully, most angry patients have no intentions of turning their anger into aggression.
If a patient is upset and just verbalizing displeasure, you can use diffusing techniques to help calm the situation. Suggestions for diffusing anger include taking a deep breath and putting yourself in the place of the angry person to try to see the situation through the patient’s eyes. Keep in mind that anger often comes from fear. Perhaps the patient is afraid of the medical outcome, the diagnosis, the tests, the costs, the time away from work, and any number of other issues. Regardless of the source of the anger, taking a deep calming breath and a brief minute to settle your emotional reactions can be helpful tools in this difficult situation.
Verbally putting yourself on the side of patients is a good way to help them understand that you truly are “on their side.” Comments such as “I would be upset with a large medical bill, too” can get the person’s attention. They validate the person’s feelings, showing that you have really heard what the person said. After all, who can argue with someone who is agreeing with them?
Listen carefully to what the angry person is saying. Sometimes letting the person talk can actually defuse much of the anger because the person has “had their say” and “gotten it off their mind.” Take the time to listen carefully to all such a patient has to say. Sometimes you can actually see angry patients “run out of steam” as they talk.
Once the angry person has explained their position, take the time to make sure you clearly understand what they are upset about, and let them help you find a solution. Suggest ways that you can help them or direct them to someone who can assist them. Ask them what you can do to help further. You cannot promise to make the problem go away, but you can demonstrate that you will be there with them as they struggle through the issues.
Remember to leave the patient on a good note. These situations are not battles in which one side wins, but rather opportunities for cooperative teamwork and creative solutions that will enable everyone to feel better.
Keep in mind the word CALM, and these meanings for each letter:
C – Calm Yourself First; Don’t Get Defensive
A – Acknowledge the Importance of What the Other Person Is Saying
L – Listen Actively
M – Make Sure You Understand
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