Name: Dr. Joan Naidorf Interview
Start: 2025-09-21T18:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-09-21T21:00:00-04:00
Location: Elaine's, 208 Queen Street, Alexandria, VA, USA

Dr. Joan Naidorf will discuss her book, CHANGING HOW WE THINK ABOUT DIFFICULT PATIENTS, at Elaine's Literary Salon.
About this Event

Join Dr. Joan Naidorf at Elaine's when Jeffrey James Higgins interviews her about her book, CHANGING HOW WE THINK ABOUT DIFFICULT PATIENTS.

RUN-OF-SHOW:

6:00 PM: Meet-and-Greet

7:00 PM: Interview

8:00 PM: Book Signing

BOOK:

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.

AUTHOR:

Dr. Joan Naidorf is a board-certified emergency physician with over 30 years of experience practicing in hospitals in Northern Virginia. Her book, Changing How We Think About Difficult Patients: A Guide for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals, was published in 2022 and is widely available in electronic, paperback, and audio formats. In addition, her book reviews and opinion pieces have been widely circulated in both The Washington Post, The DO magazine, and Doximity. After hours she likes to travel, read, taste wine, play tennis, follow Dolly the poodle, and walk along Virginia Beach.