[HuggyPuglet]

This article was in our paper today. It's bad enough that we are sometimes treated like the hired help by some of our patients but now we have this. Right now it sounds like some concierge service is going to handle the patient requests, but what do you want to bet that these jobs will be handed off to nurses one by one as hospitals try to save a dollar or two?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/...Hospitals.html

[RNsRWe]

Yikes. I'm all for that patient-education video system thingy, but 24 hour room service? When the room service falls down on the job, will the nurse be expected to run down to the kitchen for a pt's sandwich??

I'm quite sure that the "concierge" will find him/herself short staffed at some point, or the requests will be chronic enough that the hospital looks to its own employees to fill in the luxury deficits. Or, just as bad, student nurses will take the heat.

Frankly, I see too many patients who have the 'I'm a paying guest' mentality as it is! I once had a patient (while I was a student) who kept griping about her tv not working right. Mind you, it WAS working; at least, she could see it, just not well. She griped about it while I did V/S. She griped about it while I gave meds. She griped about it whenever she thought I hadn't heard about it for a good ten minutes. She got annoyed with me when I told her NO, I STILL DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY'RE COMING TO FIX IT, even though I HAD given the information, etc to the unit secretary, under whom that responsibility fell. She wasn't even remotely nice about it; her TV should take precedence over a code as far as she was concerned (ok, exaggeration, but I bet if the situation presented itself, she'd think that).

Finally told her that I was there only a few hours and I could spend my time reviewing her chart, her meds, performing assessments to stay on top of her health issues, and overall making sure she didn't have HEALTH complications while I was there. Or, I could run around the building looking for a TV repair guy. Between the two, I was QUITE sure my nursing instructor wanted her post-surgery body looked after before the television!!

Now imagine that this patient was told, prior to admission, that she'd have "servants" to run for her various and sundry "needs". Students' lives can be hell as it is, can you imagine THAT additional joy??

[RNsRWe]

"To me it was just a no-brainer," said Fairmont General Chief Executive Officer Albert Pilkington III. "It puts more time in my employees' hands and it improves the quality of service."

"We're a very patient-oriented hospital," he said. "Service is a big deal for us. It's probably our main focus."

Huh. And here I thought the point was medical care and recovery. Go figure.

[barbyann]

So the future will bring Hotel Management as a requirement for a nursing degree? I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would be working in a hotel but that is what my job has become. If this is to be a "customer service" oriented field then I want to be able to accept gratuity.

[DusktilDawn]

What happens when the "WANTS" conflict with the "NEEDS" in the case of a patient? I've seen plenty of patients carry-on over something they wanted that just happened to the last thing they needed (NPO with NG or scheduled for a MIBI, insisting on having their morning coffee for instance). I think it does an incredible disservice to the patient to make them believe that they are the "only patient in the universe," it is definately a huge disservice to the staff to have to placate the "only patient in the the universe." I'm seeing nurses and other HCWs being forced to tolerate behavior that would not be tolerated in any other service industry.

Now imagine that this patient was told, prior to admission, that she'd have "servants" to run for her various and sundry "needs". Students' lives can be hell as it is, can you imagine THAT additional joy??

It won't just be student nurses taking the heat, it will be all staff, most especially the unit staff that provides direct patient care.

[RNsRWe]

Originally Posted by DusktilDawn

It won't just be student nurses taking the heat, it will be all staff, most especially the unit staff that provides direct patient care.

Oh, absolutely agreed. I referred to both in my post. The point of that statement is that the students, generally speaking, do much of the run-and-fetch during clinicals that the "real nurses" don't have time to do...and frankly, rightly so. Students are there to learn, but the stark reality is that time is a crunch for everybody and a student (who has been told in no uncertain terms that she is to answer EVERY call light, no matter whose) will end up doing a whole lotta that.

And, of course, so will the rest of the staff when the students aren't there

As it is, patients have to be reminded that they aren't there to enjoy a recuperation spa (in a nice way, lol) but rather that they need skilled NURSING services. And not butler and maid services

[DusktilDawn]

My biggest problem with all of this is the amount of time and focus that will be diverted towards this nonsense, the conflict of interest it creates when providing care, and the danger it will place patients in.

Let's say my post-op pt doesn't want to ambulate/move, which is important to prevent post-op complications (DVT, pneumonia, etc) but instead wants to be waited on in bed and have everything basically handed to them. Let's say the staff's attention is constantly consumed placating by one "customer," meanwhile other patients are not seen and assessed as they should be, that patient who may be laying there quietly internally hemorraging get delayed intervention. Guess who gets left holding the bag, whether it is the "customer" complaining, or the patient that suffers an adverse effect? The NURSES.

Big corporations can afford to make these idiotic ideas into fact, because it will be the nursing staff that will be forced to take responsiblity. There needs to be legislation that makes health care facilities responsible for their staffing practices and policies. If they want nurses to waste their time pacifying "the only patient in the universe," and that puts other patients in danger, they should be responsible for that. SBONs need to recognize this dangerous trend and enact regulations accordingly.

[RGN1]

Originally Posted by barbyann

So the future will bring Hotel Management as a requirement for a nursing degree? I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would be working in a hotel but that is what my job has become. If this is to be a "customer service" oriented field then I want to be able to accept gratuity.

[traumamomtx]

Let's not forget that 95% or the hospital population i.e. pts, families, and visitors don't know what the patient needs. Then when one of the geniuses breaks the internet set up, or can't get Animal Planet who will be expected to fix these details especially at 3 a.m.? Ya, US! Oh, let's not forget those little pesky people who don't have INSURANCE. Will they get the same treatment?

[asher315]

Oh my!! I want to be admitted to a hotel/hospital where I can get Starbucks, movies and someone to give me drugs...
and have my insurance pay for it! Of course when I get a DVT
or pneumonia from lack of post-op ambulation...I get to stay longer at this resort.

Of course, this means we have to have 2 types of nurses from now on. The "good" one who will cater and soothe and cajole the patient (and of course their families and friends!) and the "mean" ones who will limit visitors (at 2 a.m.), get the pt up out of bed and walking IN THE HALL (to the br doesn't cut it) and control their intake (no Starbucks, you have surgery in an hour).

I don't need the best-looking doctor, the nicest nurse or a four-star hotel/hospital...I need the best medical care so I can get out of the place as soon as possible and relatively,
intact.