As much as we may want things to be otherwise, the truth is that not everyone will always get along. This is often true in the workplace and can be troublesome when the personality conflicts arise between your staff and the patients you treat. While some issues such as rudeness or habitual lateness may simply lead to some griping and require an extra helping of patience, a patient who is offending your staff is a different animal.

These types of problems can arise when a patient makes suggestive comments to your employees, for example, or uses discriminatory or offensive language during his or her visits to your office. While maintaining a strong relationship with your patients is always advisable, your team members should not have to endure harassment as part of their workday. Even worse, if you are aware of a patient who is turning your office into an unhealthy work environment for your staff and you do nothing to address the problem, you could face additional issues if your employees feel they have to part ways with your office. This is an outcome that you want to avoid at all costs.

The first step, of course, is to make yourself available to your employees so that they can raise their concerns. If the complaints are petty or are about issues which may be outside of a patient’s control, then you may have to encourage your workers to do their best to tolerate patient traits that they do not like. But if the patient’s behavior has crossed the line and qualifies as offensive, then you should address the issue right away. Mention your concerns to your patient in a respectful way and be clear that you want to continue to treat him/her, if possible. Kindly suggest that your patient be mindful of the ways that his/her words and actions can affect others. If your patient refuses to modify his or her words or actions, then terminating your relationship with this patient may be necessary. While you and your staff are in a field which necessitates service to your patients, you should not sacrifice the safety of your workforce in order to maintain your relationship with difficult patients.