Calming the Angry Patient  

Anyone who has worked in a medical facility knows that angry patients (and their families) present a tricky challenge for clinicians and staff alike. Remaining calm, professional and empathetic to the patient's emotions is sometimes very difficult when faced with an upset patient, particularly when the patient's anger is directed at someone unrelated to the source of the frustration. Unfortunately, patient anger can (and does) spiral out of control and may lead to retaining a malpractice attorney, a scenario not many of you would want to see.

In order to effectively meet the challenge of the angry patient, it is important to understand why people are angry. Although each individual has his or her own specific reason, most patients become angry because you have failed to meet their expectations. Whatever happened to make them angry, they had expected something else.

Unfortu...