Conflict resolution is key to good patient relations
Conflict resolution is key to good patient relations
At Detroit Medical Center-Sinai Hospital, rehab staff are encouraged to defuse potential conflicts that can lead to unhappy patients. If a piece of equipment doesn’t arrive before discharge, for instance, the therapist may deliver it in person to the patient’s home.
"A patient might get angry because the equipment didn’t arrive on time, but we turn it around by delivering it to their home," says Verne Royal, MA, MS, CCC/SLP, the hospital’s quality and business systems manager. Or, if a patient comes to the therapy gym angry because he missed lunch for therapy, the therapist should respond by saying "It must be terrible to miss lunch. Let me see if I can get you something right away."
How a staff member handles an angry, frightened, or dissatisfied patient helps form the patient’s overall attitude about the hospital, Royal says. "A lot of conflict resolution is simply showing respect to the patient, listening to them, and acknowledging mistakes. It goes a long way, and patients tend to calm down."
As part of its focus on patient satisfaction, the physical medicine and rehabilitation department trained staff to resolve conflicts with patients and avoid having the patient leave with a poor opinion of the hospital.
During a grand rounds on conflict resolution, the management team presented personifications of typical patients (such as "Fearful Freddy" and "Disappointed Delilah") and scenarios in which they create conflict. "We told the staff that patients are very fearful, and this is what causes them to act certain ways. We gave the staff a few helpful hints for dealing with the conflicts," Royal says. (For a list of dos and don’ts, see p. 141.)
Staff learned how to handle sticky situations that occur because of a patient’s fear or lack of knowledge by recognizing the issue, eliciting the patient’s feelings, acknowledging and respecting those feelings. "What we wanted to do is to give the staff the tools to respond to those patients and to the types of issues that could turn patients into being dissatisfied," Royal says.
The administrative team designed a conflict form that staff complete whenever conflict arises. On the form, they describe the situation and report what they have done to resolve it. "The form gives feedback to supervisors on incidents that are occurring, and it turns into a great coaching tool. Even if the response wasn’t good, we can use it as a stepping off point for a lesson on dealing with conflicts," Royal says.
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