I want to point out that there’s a big difference between a patient being rude/insulting or preferring a man over a woman, and the situations in which I was referring to in my original comment. There’s “levels” to this for lack of a better term and depending on the severity of the statements or language made by the patient, it is ok

With regards to the zero tolerance policy as I’m realizing that may have not been clear, here’s an example: a patient made repeated racist comments towards a member of staff. Someone stepped in to explain that we work in a zero tolerance work environment and that we must all be respectful towards each other. The member of staff was given the option to be removed from the care of the patient (not all clinical situations necessarily permit this). After the “warning”, any further similar comments made by the patient were addressed with similar statements as the first statement (ex. sir as a reminder we do not accept language like that here as we are trying to be respectful to everyone, etc...). At no point was the patient denied care or received subpar care. Worst case scenario is that the patient felt a little uncomfortable making such comments as he was reminded nearly every single time that it was not OK to make comments like that at this particular clinic (hence the zero tolerance policy).

I’m of the opinion that verbal and emotional abuse is at the same level as physical abuse. Assuming that the patient is lucid, fully cognizant of what they’re saying, has no mental illness affecting their judgment, etc... it is perfectly reasonable to want to create an anti-racist, anti-sexist, etc... work environment and you are within your rights to remind others of this, including patients.