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Tips for responding to angry complaints from patients and families

Nurse Leader Weekly, April 14, 2004

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Anger-fueled complaints are part of the territory for nurses. Susan Keane Baker, a motivational speaker in the healthcare field offers these steps for handling angry complaints from patients and their families.

Try role-playing these strategies with your nursing staff.

• Move the patient or family member to a quiet area. In a low, calm voice, nurses should say, "Let's step over here to talk. That way we won't be interrupted." With an audience, the angry patient or family member will be less likely to accept the nurse's point of view.
• Let the patient or family member speak his or her mind without interruption. Otherwise, the nurse may fix the problem, but not fix the relationship. By interrupting, nurses may inadvertently encourage the person to embellish and repeat his or her story to others. It's important for patients and their families to feel they are being heard and taken seriously.
• Avoid rationalizing. There are usually a few oft-repeated rationalizations that come immediately to mind when a patient or family member has a complaint. Put yourself in the patient's shoes for just a moment and consider whether your rationalization is an explanation or an excuse.
• Respectfully use the name of the patient or family member in your reply. When a person is very angry, using his or her name in a respectful way can ease the situation. Using the person's name in a condescending way will likely spark anger.

Source: Handling Difficult Patients: A Nurse Manger's Guide part of the Handling Difficult Patients: Management Tools for Staff Preparedness training package. http://www.hcmarketplace.com/PackageDetail.cfm?package_id=878&s=ENMW

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