What do you do if patient advocacy becomes emotionally overwhelming while maintaining professionalism?

In my experience, there are some patients/families that you can never please. Look at your patients for the day. Start off if possible who looks forward to your visits and wants help. Working with a positive patient always starts the day well. It’s not always possible to schedule appointments the way you like. If possible, schedule more difficult patients prior to lunch or the end of your day to ensure it doesn’t affect your other patients. If your work with a particular patient is affecting you to the point of not handling things well, speak to a colleague about switching patients. Then just explain to that patient that it appears you’re unable to help them further, but that you have an experienced colleague to help them further.

I don't even know how to contribute to this question. It is clearly an AI generated question. We are in the healthcare field which means we are also in the patient advocacy field. We must always maintain a sense of professionalism not only as healthcare professionals, but also as adults. We as humans have emotional triggers. In healthcare, we expect to be a part of patients' emotional triggers. Understanding that and recognizing that it is inevidable is crucial. We must try to avoid projecting our beliefs onto our patients while also recognizing that their triggers may be different than ours. Being honest, raw, and respectful is the best way to handle difficult situations. And if we are unable to do so, we must refer to others who can.

We deal with difficult situations every single day in healthcare. In every area of nursing and medicine I have worked, I have experienced emotional difficulties that can affect the way I deliver care. It is important to rely on colleagues, share your feelings, request assistance, express the need to step away, and sometimes even cry with your patients and coworkers. At the end of the day, we are all human. Emotions are a part of human nature. What matters is how we control them and handle them. Sometimes patients appreciate seeing that we, too, are human.

Self-care is so important. We encourage our patients to practice self-care. We have to practice what we preach. This means getting plenty of sleep, exercise, mental decompression, and eating right. Unfortunately, healthcare workers are notorious for being the worst at self-care because we are so accustomed to caring for others first. But without self-care we cannot give adequate patient care. If only administration understood this.