Hi, welcome to today's One Minute Management Tip. My name is Tina Del Buono and today I want to talk about the angry patient. What? You've never had an angry patient? Well, get out a pen and paper, take some notes because I could tell you it's bound to happen.
When it used to happen in our practice, and not that it happened often, I would get so upset and I would even think about it when I went home. That doesn't happen anymore. You know why? Because I have learned that when a patient is upset that it is an opportunity for me to make a positive influence in their life, and to help handle the problem and I've had to learn to be more empathetic. This isn't something that just comes naturally to most people. I had to practice trying to put myself in their shoes to feel what they were feeling so that then I could be better at helping them. And it works.
So, here's my tip to you: Read whatever you can on how to become more empathetic and then when patients come in and they do have a problem, be ready to help them not be fearful that they're going to get so mad at you. You're there to help them and look at it as an opportunity. It makes all the difference in the world in how you are able to handle it.
If you have any questions all you have to do is email me at [email protected]. And I hope this little tip has helped. Practice being more empathetic.
