[NewRN2008]

i HATE this topic. not cuz it was mentioned or anything, but just the entire thing. its ridiculous. we are there for every single dang patient, NOT for brown nosing; sucking up for anyone. i have fun in my job and treat every pt with the utmost (SP?) respect, confidentialy; fun; in the most caring; empathetic way i know how. i have had ppl tell me after a shift, mean nurses, that "oh, you know who that was dont you? i sure hope you did more for him/her". i could scream! i would rather NOT know who they are in that respect, because i dont want to get the looks from the other staff about anything like that!

man, make my blood boil thinking about past situations like this. its BS!! i would NOT expect that for myself if i was on a floor that i ever worked on, or hell, built if i had the money.

Great topic to talk about though! really!
-H-
its awesome to hear others opinions and sound-off's!! lol

[diveRN]

We actually have a Protocol for a specific VIP family. They give millions a year in endowments.

The protocol includes
- their own private nurse and PCP MD, even if MD doesn't have privileges
- a staff RN to wait on the private nurse (get meds from the pyxis, pharmacy, etc)
- immediate "no info" status to keep the media away
- a specific private room (the largest ICU room we have, which is an isolation room... even if they aren't 'ICU' patients)
- an open wireless Internet connection (we don't even get those as employees)
- private catering for pt and family (which the hospital arranges)

Flippin' ridiculous how the hospital bends over for these people.

[northshore08]

Don't fuss at the charge nurses for pushing the agenda; they are only doing what they are told by administration. Unfortunately, that's who signs our paychecks. I've seen the board member who throws fits in triage or in front of the nurses station, and I've had to "find a bed" for the "doctor's wife" with the migraine. I've been the charge nurse who had to tell administration sorry but you will have to come take care of this situation--we are slammed and my staff doen't have time or space for this today. It helps if you can get the ED MD to get on the phone and support the cause. In those situations we have had nursing administration support to come take these VIPs away to a more available area for treatment, or to care for them in the ED. As charge I would NEVER ask the triage nurse to bed a VIP in front of the rest of the waiting area..I would go get them myself, and allow the triage nurse the benefit to telling the waiting area that s/he couldn't help it, the charge nurse did it.

But it's nice when the REALLY SICK patient's family finds out their bed was given to a not-so-sick VIP....they raise their voices with administration! Course, they heard it all while their family member was being boarded in the hall. Sorry, but we can't always give everybody total privacy in the ED, can we....

[UtErRnEmt]

thanks everyone . maybe one day the vip's will open hospital usa that they teach us about in nursing school where there is extra staff in the wings to get us thru a brown nosing crisis

[ikimiwi]

I treat every one the best I can , like all of you, but I think that if you work in the hospital, from housekeeper to adminstration and you come to the Ed ,if at all possible, I am not going to make you wait. There is little benefits to working in the medical community, and of courseyou wont get in before critically ill pts, but there usually is a way to get them in. That said, my brother sat for 4 hours in the wr last week, because patients we literally dropping like flies! And if you are ER staff, no waiting. Now the little old lady who tells me her family donates lots of money and she is not going to wait, gets a nice smile , out to the waiting room with a promise I will get her in as soon as I possibly can.

[Knoodsen]

I am currently employed by two unrelated hospitals. Both of them got into trouble; I think it was something about stealing our tax dollars via medicare and medicaid. The punishment for the administrators and physicians involved consists of forcing me to spend some of my valuable time attending "ethics training". VIP treatment just is not ethical. We either "take care of the sickest patients first" or we don't. And, there was major money involved as well. Working short seems to be the newest best idea.

[Knoodsen]

Please allow me to add this thought. (I appreciate greatly the contributions on this thread.) I am reminded of how pathetic most of these weaklings are. Sanity requires "little victories".

[schizo_maja]

hmmm... I love working in a city hospital where the VIP's won't be coming here as planned or as wanted, extreme emergency maybe like dead or actively dying perhaps...

even employees who works here wants to be seen first... even house keeping for crying out loud... but its my triage, i do my job well if i triage patients according to severity index rather than "office/position index" so,after I'm done with anyone my usual line would be "go to the next window for registration and the doc will call you from the waiting area" if someone from my shift will pick their chart and ask one of my doc to see them 1st it them not me.... I hate kiss ass...

as an employee would I wanna be seen 1st? nope. i won't go to my hospital where people know me, I'd rather wait in another facility and be treated accordingly...