October 4, 2006Is There Anything You Want to Complain About?
Barbara is a hospice nurse extraordinaire. She finds that many people are hesitant to say what they need to, and she has designed phrases to help her draw the information out. One of her favorites is,
- Is there anything you want to complain about?
She finds that this invitation helps her get information she otherwise would not.
The risk with this phrase is that it focuses people on the negative, so make sure you want to know before you ask it. In other situations you may choose to ask,
- Do you have any suggestions for me?
- Are there some changes you would like to see?
These questions invite a broader range of responses.
3 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post.
| TrackBack URI
You can also bookmark
this on del.icio.us or check the cosmos
These are great ideas. Just my thought, but I would, perhaps, modify them to be more open-ended versus close-ended. For example, rather than asking “Are there some changes you would like to see?”, I would say, “What changes would you like to see.”
Open-ended questions invite conversation rather than a yes/no respons.
Comment by Judy — October 4, 2006 @ 12:21 pm
I agree with you that we should phrase the question in a more positive tone. Maybe they just might tell how please they are. By asking patients how you could have made their experience more positive, you are more likely to get a sincere response.
Comment by Matilde — October 4, 2006 @ 12:31 pm
I formerly worked as a Long Term Care Ombudsman (an advocate for residents living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities). When asking residents about their care needs I would shy away from “Do you have anything you would like to complain about?” or “Do you have any concerns about your care?” These questions would often close people down, as they did not want to be labeled “complainers”. What works beautifully is “What would make the care here the best it could be?” or “What would make this a great place to live?” Answers to these questions gave the residents permission to improve their situation and that of other residents in the building. A much more powerful conversation.
Comment by Donna — October 7, 2006 @ 9:01 pm