If a patient were to tell you that he does not agree with a doctor's orders, how would you respond?

An interviewer will often ask a question like this to see your response. It is OK to have an opinion. However, it is best to be very careful with how you respond to a patient's complaints. Feeding into a patient's feeling of negativity could cause a bigger problem to result. Remember, always listen to a patient's concerns, and then direct your thoughts/concerns to the appropriate person in a supervisory position. This type of question gives the interviewer a chance to see how you may handle a conflict.

"Many times patients say that they don't agree with a doctor's orders because they do not understand the order. If a patient were to tell me that he has a concern about an order, I would ask what the concern is first, to make sure he has an understanding of what the order is and why the physician chose it. If I can explain an order/procedure to a patient in a way that he can understand it, I will. If I feel like the patient's concern is not based on lack of knowledge, but that he truly disagrees with an order, I will tell him that I am going to speak to my supervisor so that his concerns can be addressed."