Have you heard the expression that you catch more flies
with honey? Well, if you go in with a
positive attitude and are respectful and polite, the odds are you will win the
patient over with your charm.
Nurse 1
John was not a happy guy at all. He was tired of being in pain, and tired of
being hospitalized. He was transferred
from another medical facility, and he nothing short of a grumpy old man, which
he informed the staff of upon his arrival. Nurse 1 went in to gather some information from him, and it did not go
well. She asked if he was in pain, to
which he explained he would not be there if he wasn’t. She went on to ask very routine admittance
questions, to most he had very short answers that could easily be considered
offensive to most people. After all
questions needed for intake procedures were complete, nurse 1 walked out of the
room and gave a big sigh of relief. Two
hours later it was medication time for John, so nurse 1 walked into his room
with his medications. She flipped on the
light and said, time to take your medicine. John refused the medication and told her to get out. She tried again, however John still
refused.
Nurse 2
Came on duty and was assigned to John. She was warned ahead of time that John was
not exactly Mr. Congeniality. So, nurse
2 took a very different approach. She
entered John’s room very quietly, and walked over to him. She touched him on his shoulder, a
comforting touch. John asks what she wanted,
and nurse 2 took a very different approach. She told John that she understood he was in pain, and must be very tired
of being moved around. She added that
while he was there, she would do all she could to make his stay
comfortable. It was obvious John wanted
to say something back, but could not think of anything. The nurse then told him that she had some
medication, and rather than saying I have pills you have
to take, she said, John I have some pills for you. Would you like to try a couple with your
juice and let’s see how that goes? John
was compliant and took his medications without incident. Every time nurse 2 needed John to do
something, she handled it much the same way, letting him know that she could
relate to him, and could understand why he did not want to cooperate, however
the goal was to get him better. John ended
up doing everything he was asked to do, and 4 days later was released, actually
blowing a goodbye kiss to nurse 2 on his way out.
One patient, two very different ways to approach the
patient and get them to comply. Obviously,
one worked and one did not.
When talking to patients that are not being compliant,
let them know that you are on their side, you can understand how they feel, and
you just want to help them get things over with so that they can be left
alone. Assuring the patient, you are on
their side makes them less likely to argue, and more responsive to taking
medication and doing what is expected of them. Understanding that patients may be going through a great deal mentally
when admitted to the hospital, may help explain why they are not
cooperative.Try to be tolerant, let the
patient you that your goal is to help them get better, and discharged as soon
as possible.
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