Managing incivility and conflict with clients

• Do you feel out of your depth when dealing with clients who are emotional, angry or uncivil?
• Does this lead to stress amongst those involved and the wider team?
• Are you concerned this might impact delivery of patient care?

There are situations when clients understandably become upset in practice and at times this can lead to anger and uncivil behaviour towards you and your colleagues. We know what matters most to you is delivering the best possible care to your patients and clients alike, so these situations can be emotionally challenging, both for those involved and other team members. This can lead to stress and may even have a detrimental impact on the care delivered.

In our NEW course Managing incivility and conflict with clients, you’ll explore some of the underlying issues that can drive a variety of challenging behaviours from clients. You’ll also consider the impact on the team and we’ll help you to develop strategies to prevent and de-escalate difficult situations.

Using a mix of lectures, workshops and simulated client consults, we’ll provide a non-judgmental and supportive space to help you develop and practise new approaches.

Is this course for me?

This course is suitable for any practice team member who deals directly with clients.

What will I learn?

• Understand why clients might behave in challenging ways
• Develop your own personal strategies to manage difficult situations
• Support yourself and your colleagues when faced with client incivility

What can I expect?

• A comprehensive online programme, starting at 9.30am and finishing at 4pm
• Interactive lectures and workshops during the morning
• Facilitator led simulated client sessions in small groups of up to 4 in the afternoon to explore and practice new techniques in dealing with incivility from clients
• A safe, controlled and supportive atmosphere with our excellent veterinary actors, carefully managed by experienced facilitators
• 5.5 hours CPD

Looking for other courses to improve client communication? Try How to Defuse Complaints and Let's Talk About Money.

Vetlife are available to help if you are ever struggling with these topics. They offer independent, confidential and free help for everyone in the veterinary community including veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses, students and non-clinical staff.