Responding to Difficult Nurse-Patient Encounters

Discussions on dealing with the notion of "a difficult patient" have shaped the ethical response queries for dealing with this group of patients. These patients may include those who are perceived and labelled as demanding, noncompliance, uncooperative, rude, or aggressive, among many others. Such labelling results in negative nuances and concerns; for example, nurses physically avoid or emotionally distance themselves from patients (1). Such manifestation is demonstrated in my recent study, in which nurses revealed that when a difficult patient asks for help, nurses do not respond promptly (2). Another noteworthy study (3) reported nurses' account of their perceptions of uncaring nursing encounters, whereby they described their frustration over what they perceived as problematic patient behaviours. The nurses confessed to creating an emotional distance between them and the patients so that they could avoid dealing with stressful patients. Furthermore, they could not attend to all of the patients' needs at once, particularly when they were more concerned about task completion. Similarly, another study described nurses' profound concern that some patients may significantly hinder the ability of a nurse to develop a caring relationship with that patient, given the negative attitude and actions of the patient towards their illness and healthcare (4).