Gabby Finn started in the Oak Lawn PED a year and a half ago as a new graduate nurse. Recently, she dealt with a difficult patient experience. She was the primary nurse caring for a patient with complex care needs. The patient was non-verbal and in pain. While doing her primary assessment and asking about the patient's history, the family became verbally abrupt with her. The family gave her specific expectations and instructions. Some of these instructions included the following: they did not want to be asked to repeat themselves, she was only allowed one chance to start an IV, and the room was too cold and needed to be fixed immediately.

She used her skills as a charge nurse and incorporated skills she learned and developed. She used the learnings of self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management to address the situation. She knew she needed to be innovative to advocate for her patient’s needs. She was self-aware that this family’s comments were making her upset but knew her priority was the patient. She knew she was going to have to self-manage her emotions to reduce escalating the situation in a negative manner. She knew she was going to have to use relationship management tactics to a positive rapport with the family to establish trust. She was socially aware that the family was upset and decided the best approach would be to address all concerns to help refocus attention on her patient’s needs. She took a holistic approach by actively listening to the family’s concerns. She responded with compassion and clear expectations. She made the family aware that they may need to repeat themselves at times because we treat our patients with a collaborative approach. We don’t want to miss anything when it comes to the patient’s care so at times questions may need to be repeated for clarity. She explained that our goal is to always obtain IV access in one attempt, but that, unfortunately, does not always happen. She stated she would do her best to meet this expectation and provide proper pre-IV pain management. She acknowledged the room temperature, provided extra blankets, and made the family aware that she notified our facilities team to look at the thermostat.

She used her emotional intelligence (EI) tactics of taking a step back, thinking before speaking, and taking a deep breath. Thanks to utilizing those skills, she maintained a calm demeanor throughout the patient’s visit. She stayed at the patient’s cart side for tests to ensure the family knew they had her support.