Understanding the Experiences of Nurses Managing Querulous Complainants: What Does Health Care Know?
Date
2020-04-13
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Abstract
Society demands and rightfully deserves excellence in health care but unfortunately, this expectation is not always met. Having worked in the Department of Patient Relations for 13 years, I am privileged to have conversed with thousands of patients and families to resolve concerns related to unsatisfactory health care experiences. Unfortunately, I have also engaged with countless patients and families who remained unsatisfied with their care and are thus labeled difficult or querulous. I became increasingly perplexed by the presentation of such complainants and recognized that there was more to be understood about the experience of attempting to reach resolution. For this research study, I have utilized a qualitative design of hermeneutic inquiry as guided by the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) to address my research question: How might we understand experiences of nurses managing querulous complainants? I recruited five Registered Nurses (RN) employed by Alberta Health Services (AHS) as Patient Concerns Consultants (PCC). The data for my research were generated through planned, skilfully conducted, semi-structured interviews with participants. This approach allowed me to listen and be open to the participants’ understandings of their experience with querulous complainants. My research relied on the concepts of the hermeneutic circle and fusion of horizons in order to understand the experiences and bring forth interpretations. Through the research process, new and altered understandings emerged through the interpretations of Apology, War, Monsters, Soldiers, Robots, Gods, and the Black Hole. The research suggests that there is an absence of relationship between querulous complainants and PCCs. Querulous complainants cause distress, suffering, and require a unique concerns management process. The ways in which politics and Groupthink in health care play an integral part in querulous complaint management is also tendered. This study is the first known qualitative research inquiry intended to explore querulous complainants which creates a platform for new research related to managing health care complaints.
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Keywords
Querulous Complaints Health Care Nursing Hermeneutics Gadamer
Citation
Liddle, A. C. (2020). Understanding the Experiences of Nurses Managing Querulous Complainants: What Does Health Care Know? (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.