April 13, 2026: Dr. Joan Naidorf helps educate the medical community in her book, “Changing How We Think About Difficult Patients: A Guide for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals”
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Dr. Joan Naidorf is "Changing How We Think About Difficult Patients"
Physicians enter their professions with the highest of hopes and ideals for compassionate and efficient patient care. Along the way, however, recurring problems arise in their interactions with some patients that lead physicians to label them as “difficult.” This book uses a multi-tiered approach to bring awareness to the difficult patient conundrum, then introduces simple, actionable tools that every physician, nurse, and caregiver can use to change their mindset about the patients who challenge them.
Monday Morning Magic from Inkandescent® PR + Publishing Co. — It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Dr. Joan Naidorf, a board-certified emergency physician trained at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia. After growing up in Highland Park, NJ, she obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia.
She practiced for nearly thirty years in the busy emergency departments of Inova Alexandria Hospital and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia. As an author and speaker, she has been sharing important ideas with students, residents and practicing physicians through various online and direct engagements.
Joan was recently appointed to the editorial advisory board of The DO magazine. Her proudest accomplishment has been raising three compassionate and intelligent children along with Toby, her devoted husband. Toby supplies many stories of the patients who challenge him from his busy gastroenterology practice. In her spare time, Dr. Naidorf enjoys reading, traveling, playing tennis, tasting wine, and walking with Dolly, the miniature poodle. Learn more: drjoannaidorf.com
Scroll down to discover her book, a powerful tome for caregivers and patients alike: Changing How We Think About Difficult Patients: A Guide for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals.
Until next Monday: Wishing you the ability to embrace the difficult, and find ways to push through so that everyone wins! — Hope Katz Gibbs, founder and president, Inkandescent® Inc. Inkandescent.us
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“Changing how we think about difficult patients,” by Dr. Joan Naidorf
About Changing How We Think About Difficult Patients: A Guide for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals
Physicians enter their professions with the highest of hopes and ideals for compassionate and efficient patient care. Along the way, however, recurring problems arise in their interactions with some patients that lead physicians to label them as “difficult.” Some studies indicate that physicians identify 15% or more of their patients as “difficult.” The negative feelings that physicians have toward these patients may lead to frustration, cynicism, and burnout.
Changing How We Think about Difficult Patients uses a multi-tiered approach to bring awareness to the difficult patient conundrum, then introduces simple, actionable tools that every physician, nurse, and caregiver can use to change their mindset about the patients who challenge them. Positive thoughts lead to more positive feelings and more effective treatments and results for patients. They also lead to more satisfaction and decreased feelings of burnout in healthcare professionals.
How does this book give you an advantage? Caring for difficult patients poses a tremendous challenge for physicians, nurses, and clinical practitioners. It may contribute significantly to feelings of burnout, including feelings of exhaustion, cynicism, and lost sense of purpose. In response, Dr. Naidorf offers a pragmatic approach to accepting patients the way they are, then provides strategies for providers to find more happiness and satisfaction in their interactions with even the most challenging patients and families.
Here are just some of the topics the author discusses in detail:
- What Makes a “Good” Patient?
- The Four Core Ethical Principals of the Clinician-Patient Relationship
- The Four Models of the Physician-Patient Relationship
- What Challenges Anybody with Illness or Injury?
- How “Good” Patients Handle the Challenges of Illness and Injury
- Six Common Reactions to Illness and Hospitalization
- On “Taking Care of the Hateful Patient”
- Standards for Education in Medical Ethics
- De-escalation Strategies
- Cultural, Structural, and Language Issues
- Types of Patients Who Tend to Challenge Us
- The Think, Feel, Act Cycle
- Recognizing Our Preconceived Thoughts
- Three Common Thought Distortions About Patients
- Asking Useful Questions
- Getting Out of the Victim Mentality
- Guiding our Thoughts Through a Common Scenario
- Show Compassion, Feel Compassion