Permission is granted to print and distribute this excerpt for noncommercial use as long as the above source is included. The information in this article is meant to educate and should not be used as an alternative for professional medical care. Physicians have several legal rights, as well as rights that flow from the respect and kindness that should mark all worthwhile human relationships. Be treated courteously and respectfully Doctors and their staffs have a right to courteous treatment even when patients are feeling sick or emotionally distraught. While most compassionate doctors understand if a patient blows up at them out of fear or anger about an illness, they don't deserve to go through each working day on the receiving end of misplaced anger.
Rude behavior has no place in medical partnerships.
One emergency room doctor describes most patients as generally pleasant, with a few exceptions. But, on the whole, most people are really nice. If they do get angry, there is usually something else going on. For instance, one night a father brought his young daughter in who needed blood work and an intravenous line. It was one of those awful situations where she was just so dehydrated it was hard to find a vein.