Comment highlight

Patients we don’t like

Patients who are rude, angry, abusive, malodorous, self destructive, time wasters, or non-compliant and bed blocking can arouse negative emotions in the treating clinician, especially when he or she is tired, says Daniel Sokol. These emotions, in turn, can lead to a lower standard of care for these “problem” patients, he writes, but doctors should not let their moral evaluations of patients affect their treatment.

BMJ most popular