Home Health Aide On The Go In Service Lessons Vol 5 Issue 6 Aide Patient Conflicts

This lesson on Aide/Patient Conflicts includes a complete training packet. Each in-service packet takes approximately one hour to complete and fully meets the Medicare in-service training requirements. As aides need training, you can make as many copies as you want - there's no restriction when used with aides assigned from your office location. Remember that Home Health Aides must have 12 hours of in-service training every year. LESSON OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this program, the home health aide will be able to: Better understand why patients may exhibit difficult behavior List techniques to handle difficult patients, and Explain the importance of reporting and documenting events regarding difficult patients. OVERVIEW For the most part, home health patients are pleasant and welcoming to the presence of home health aides, and are eager to do what it takes to get better. Occasionally, however, the home health aide will experience a conflict due to behavioral issues with the patient. A patient may be having a hard time learning to live with a disease or adjusting to the lifestyle changes an injury or disease requires. The patient may take out these frustrations on the caregiver. The patient may be resistant or bitter and even, at times, aggressive. The patient may also have mental status changes directly related to disease or to aging. Instead of reacting negatively and making the situation worse, a home health aide can use techniques to build a more solid, trusting relationship with the patient. Understanding the potential causes of the behavior helps aides know how to respond effectively. This inservice looks at some of the possible reasons a patient may be difficult and offers tips on dealing with such patients.