Soothe Stress With The Universal Upset Person Protocol
As a medical practice, caring for your patients is always the top priority. You have the knowledge, experience and tools to help your patients with everything they need from the moment they call or visit your office to schedule an appointment. However, at the end of the day, you, your team and your patients are only human, which means that sometimes you’ll be tasked with helping a patient who is upset for one reason or another.
It feels terrible to engage in a negative conversation. These feelings can only be exacerbated when a professional entity, like a medical practice, is tasked with calming down an upset patient. Seeking out medical care is deeply vulnerable and personal for many patients, and when added to the stresses of day-to-day life, emotions can run high. So how do you, as the medical professional, best serve an upset patient without neglecting the needs and emotions of your team? This month, we’re sharing Dr. Dike Drummond’s Universal Upset Person Protocol to help navigate conversations between your team and angry or upset patients.
Upset Person Protocol Step One: Acknowledge The Emotion
When interacting with an angry patient, the first thing to do is to acknowledge their anger as a foundation for a calm, productive discussion. If you’re meeting with a patient face-to-face, mention that they look upset. For patients speaking over the phone, tell them you can hear that they’re upset and that you’d like to help.
Upset Person Protocol Step Two: Hear Them Out
After acknowledging that your patient is upset, the next essential step is to ask them what’s wrong. Truly listen to their story and try to find the real intent behind their words. When we’re upset, we don’t consistently articulate ourselves well, and our patients are no different. Whether your patient is speaking in clipped tones, repeating themselves or talking in circles, the important thing to remember is that they’re upset and in need of care.
Upset Person Protocol Step Three: Look Them In The Eye
When your patient is finished explaining their problem, look them in the eye and express sympathy and compassion for what they’re going through. Showing your patient this respect will garner respect for you in return. Let them know that regardless of what has upset them, you are sorry that they’re feeling this way.
Upset Person Protocol Step Four: Offer Assistance
Now that you’ve set the tone of the conversation to one of compassion and respect, offer to help your patient resolve their issue. Ask them what you can do to help them and listen carefully to their answer, even if you already have an idea of what would solve their issue. Their response to this question will give you a much better understanding of what this patient needs to help them feel calm and understood.
Upset Person Protocol Step Five: Articulate Next Steps
After you’ve asked them what they would like you to do to resolve the problem, you can finally step in to offer professional advice. Clearly tell them how you would like to proceed. It’s important to remember that these next steps do not have to be the same ones they expressed in their answer to your previous question, but rather the best solution you can offer that is within your abilities as a medical professional.
Upset Person Protocol Step Six: End On The Same Page
Once the problem has been resolved, take some time to thank your patient for expressing their feelings with you. After moments of emotion, many people can feel anxious or embarrassed, so it’s important to show empathy and respect by clarifying that you appreciate their vulnerability in sharing their story with you. As medical practices, you need to be on the same page as your patients whenever possible, and this last step is a great way to end the conversation in a calm, respectful manner.
If you and your team follow this general guideline for speaking with upset patients, you can avoid a stressful, high-tension conversation with patients that leaves you, the patient and your whole team feeling on-edge and upset for the rest of the day. Following this upset person protocol creates a valuable opportunity to simply move on from these difficult conversations after the fact and get back to a great day! Read more tips for your medical practice here.