Dealing With Difficult Family Members in Healthcare

Dealing With Difficult Family Members in Healthcare

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As a therapist, you work hard to improve the lives of others in a variety of ways. While helping people recover can be a rewarding pursuit, it does come with some challenges. But that’s the case with almost all jobs, right? One of the less pleasant aspects of a healthcare provider’s job can be dealing with family members of patients. Although most family members are helpful and patient, others can be demanding and hard to handle. While this can be frustrating, you have to remember that they also have their reasons. Most of them are in stressful situations that make them anxious or even irritable. So, to help you navigate these situations with grace, we’ve written a guide for dealing with difficult family members in healthcare!

dealing with difficult family members in healthcare

Strategies for Dealing With Difficult Family Members in Healthcare

You are responsible for providing high-quality patient care to your patients. But, demanding family members can make your job a lot harder. The following are some strategies to consider the next time you find yourself dealing with difficult family members in healthcare.

Listen to the Family Member

Family members often begin to seem demanding because they are afraid. Their loved one is suffering and this can make them feel powerless. This can cause them to act out in ways that they normally wouldn’t. Here are just a few examples of family situations that you could encounter as a therapist.

  • A mother may worry that her child will never overcome a speech impediment and will constantly be subjected to teasing.
  • A husband may worry that his wife’s on-the-job injury will never heal and the family will face financial troubles.
  • A son might worry that his elderly father will not recover from a fall and will need to give up a great deal of independence.

Even if they are giving you a hard time, it’s very important to listen to your patients’ family members. You can show them that you are listening by empathizing with their situation. Saying things like “I can see why you would be worried” is a great way to accomplish this. While most family members have good intentions, many of them are very anxious. They may become less hostile if they feel as though you are being sensitive about their concerns.

Discuss the Treatment Plan

Family members may be overly demanding if they expect results in an unrealistic amount of time. This happens a lot with travel therapy patients because families sometimes expect you to solve their loved one’s problem very shortly after you arrive. As you probably know, this is not realistic. Therapy is often a long-term process because it takes time to gather information about a patient and plan a treatment strategy. This doesn’t even account for the time it takes to actually conduct treatment. And, depending on the patient, it could take a while to see results once the treatment has started. Once you have established a plan, pull the family aside to discuss a realistic timetable and your specific plans for treatment. This can help to alleviate some of the tension between you and impatient family members.

Explain Delays in Appointments

Nobody likes to wait, but there are ways that you can reduce complaints from frustrated patients and their families. Inform your patient and their accompanying family members as soon as you know that you are running late. Do your best to give an accurate estimate of how late you will be and apologize for the inconvenience. And, without getting defensive, briefly explain the reason for your tardiness. Simply knowing what to expect and understanding the reason for the delay will help to put your patient’s and their family members’ minds at ease. Remember to apologize again once you do arrive for the appointment!

Don’t Let Them Bully You

Do not let demanding family members bully you. Your main focus should be on rehabilitating your patient, not succumbing to the ridiculous requests of their families. If you find yourself dealing with difficult family members in healthcare, it is perfectly fine to ask them to wait until a therapy session is over before you have a conversation with them. It’s also a good idea to ask them to bring a list of questions and let them know exactly how much time you have to talk with them. While their concerns are valid, your patient should always come first!

We don’t mean to scare you. Most patients and their families are actually pretty easy to deal with. But, you should still be prepared for the occusasion difficult family member! Do you have experience dealing with difficult family members in healthcare? How did you handle it? Let us know in the comment below!

Author: Allied Travel Careers

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1 Comment

  1. Yes and I need help. My mom was recently admitted to hospital. She is 89 years old with Chronic heart failure. My sister called ambulance and they took her to ER where they stayed my mom was Anemic and they gave her a blood transfusion and she was admitted to ICU. The 1st ICU did CAT scan, blood work, etc and gave her iron and to see if she was bleeding internally which after testing she was not. My moms oxygen level was always at 98, 99 or 100% so they transported her out of ICU and put her in a normal room. My mom was not getting better and actually was getting much worse. So it was my shift to go-to hospital. When I arrived my mother was in extreme discomfort and said to me after throwing up 2xs that he stomach was very upset. I called for nurse to see if there was something to give her to coat stomach. After 3 hours they finally gave her something to help. Then the nurse noticed my mom had a very tight painful cough so within 30 mins she gave my mom what she called robitusson and it was about the time I had to leave and it looked like my mom was more comfortable and sleeping. That evening my mom went into respiratory failure and had to be ventilated. I did not want this for her because she was suffering everyday but my family did it. Next day a doctor told my brother that the reason for the respiratory failure was the cough medicine and the stomach med the nurse administered. Now they are BLAMING ME they told me I was to blame and that I should of never told nurse to give herbthose medications. I know that ot was due to a misdiagnosed as my mother had high carbon Dioxide in her blood stream and lungs which caused the failure. This is not the 1st time either. When my dad died my brother and 2 other sisters same ones as know literally accused me of trying to kill my parents and I am the only one that shows them respect and love at all times. The 3 that attack me all the time are selfish and fid not care like I did. I bent over backwards for my mom. My schedule was 17 days a month with an over an hour drive. They live at most 10 mins away. Help I’m so hurt I can’t even talk and haven’t gone to see my mom since because I don’t want her to know what they are doing

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