She must have had a difficult patient and a hard night.

He had handled a rather difficult patient in a most satisfactory way.

I asked the internist about her approach to difficult patients.

It's easier to deal with a difficult patient because everybody knows him.

Most studies have focused on the interaction of stressed workers with difficult patients.

"I can see that you are going to be a difficult patient, but not without a cause."

Eventually, they knew, they would run into difficult patients like this one.

"As you know, doctors can be difficult patients at times."

"I can see you are going to be a difficult patient," Jazz said with a short laugh.

Even difficult patients often identify one ally among the staff.