[imperial]

Dear Fellow Posters:

Recently, I have had much communication with patients and family members about communicating with staff. In the past, many have voiced problems i.e. staff will not answer questions, staff do not have adequate information to answer questions, staff resent being asked questions. Additionally, these remarks are for physicians also. Now....... even more recently, all these individuals have shared that there is a 'major change' in how staff are communicating with patients.... in a good way... most are within FMC. Can anyone shed light on this, i.e. does FMC have some campaign going on now specifically related to the new ESRD regs, etc.. Just curious.. Thanks, again.

[RRN]

Originally Posted by imperial

Dear Fellow Posters:

Recently, I have had much communication with patients and family members about communicating with staff. In the past, many have voiced problems i.e. staff will not answer questions, staff do not have adequate information to answer questions, staff resent being asked questions. Additionally, these remarks are for physicians also. Now....... even more recently, all these individuals have shared that there is a 'major change' in how staff are communicating with patients.... in a good way... most are within FMC. Can anyone shed light on this, i.e. does FMC have some campaign going on now specifically related to the new ESRD regs, etc.. Just curious.. Thanks, again.

Yes. It's called Ultra Care.

[imperial]

Call me naive' or whatever, but, who is to see/observe/know that staff are going out of their way to communicate with patients/families? Are there hidden cameras? (just kidding)... I have been told the staff have done a complete turnaround in some fmc units. I thought maybe there was something else going on, besides the ultracare... one or two units have already received an award, of sorts, a certificate of ultracare.....?

[RRN]

Originally Posted by imperial

Call me naive' or whatever, but, who is to see/observe/know that staff are going out of their way to communicate with patients/families? Are there hidden cameras? (just kidding)... I have been told the staff have done a complete turnaround in some fmc units. I thought maybe there was something else going on, besides the ultracare... one or two units have already received an award, of sorts, a certificate of ultracare.....?

I don't know.. Managing people is not easy..

[jnette]

Originally Posted by imperial

Call me naive' or whatever, but, who is to see/observe/know that staff are going out of their way to communicate with patients/families? Are there hidden cameras? (just kidding)... I have been told the staff have done a complete turnaround in some fmc units. I thought maybe there was something else going on, besides the ultracare... one or two units have already received an award, of sorts, a certificate of ultracare.....?

Imperial..

Ultra Care is just another marketing tool. While the concept is one we as nurse and technical staff should ALL embrace daily, I myself find it offensive to have to sit and watch seventy eleven smarmish videos on how to approach/communicate, and interact with "CUSTOMERS". That is ONE of the aspects of Ultra Care. "Customer Service" ... with a smile, of course.

If it's not already in your heart, then all the videos and quizzes won't make a bit of difference in the long run. While I agree that there are some folks who could use a bit of a kick in the butt to act right toward their patients, I don't think Ultra Care is the answer... "there's the door" would be MY answer to that.

So yes.. FMC has been on a campaign with Ultra Care... which consists of improved "customer service" (training videos.. ).. "Open House" functions (ridiculous !) and of course all the newest hi tech equipment... and lots and lots of new training for the staff for all of this. Some of which is good.. such as understanding the why's and what's of what we do on a daily basis.

All in all, there must have been 8 or 10 computer training modules we had to watch, and be quizzed on. After the entire unit staff had completed these, the unit was "awarded" Ultra Care Status"... with "certificate of award" and a big advertising banner to proclaim our "superiority" outside the building.

Unfortunaltely, as I had mentioned earlier, another HUGE component of Ultra Care was to be the staffing ratio.. which had some WONDERFUL promises... would have enabled "trending" and teamwork between a nurse and a given amount of patients.. some really good progress in many of these concepts which would have been fulfilling to staff as well as patients.

This component of Ultra Care is the one I'm waiting for to be enacted.. and I have yet to hear one word breathed about doing so. So while we tout and shout "ULTRA CARE"...all I see is "marketing" and added tests and equipment all of which makes for more timeconsuming work for the staff (remember everything new also has to be documented)... and STILL no more staff to DO all this new stuff with.. we didn't have enough BEFORE Ultra Care and its added tasks ... much less now WITH all the "new and improved". So typical.

But... they are making a name for themselves, right? Just don't look behind the glitz and glamour. We now have even LESS time for our patients, so where is the CARE in THAT???

And until they implement the staffing ratio and the trending and the teamleaders, etc... and tech folks doing the tech stuff instead of the nurses (as is promised in Ultra care) and PCTs doing PCT stuff so nurses can concentrate more fully on the nursing demands... until all THIS is ALSO enacted, then Ultra Care is null and void in MY book.

[RRN]

Originally Posted by jnette

Imperial..

Ultra Care is just another marketing tool. While the concept is one we as nurse and technical staff should ALL embrace daily, I myself find it offensive to have to sit and watch seventy eleven smarmish videos on how to approach/communicate, and interact with "CUSTOMERS". That is ONE of the aspects of Ultra Care. "Customer Service" ... with a smile, of course.

If it's not already in your heart, then all the videos and quizzes won't make a bit of difference in the long run. While I agree that there are some folks who could use a bit of a kick in the butt to act right toward their patients, I don't think Ultra Care is the answer... "there's the door" would be MY answer to that.

So yes.. FMC has been on a campaign with Ultra Care... which consists of improved "customer service" (training videos.. ).. "Open House" functions (ridiculous !) and of course all the newest hi tech equipment... and lots and lots of new training for the staff for all of this. Some of which is good.. such as understanding the why's and what's of what we do on a daily basis.

All in all, there must have been 8 or 10 computer training modules we had to watch, and be quizzed on. After the entire unit staff had completed these, the unit was "awarded" Ultra Care Status"... with "certificate of award" and a big advertising banner to proclaim our "superiority" outside the building.

Unfortunaltely, as I had mentioned earlier, another HUGE component of Ultra Care was to be the staffing ratio.. which had some WONDERFUL promises... would have enabled "trending" and teamwork between a nurse and a given amount of patients.. some really good progress in many of these concepts which would have been fulfilling to staff as well as patients.

This component of Ultra Care is the one I'm waiting for to be enacted.. and I have yet to hear one word breathed about doing so. So while we tout and shout "ULTRA CARE"...all I see is "marketing" and added tests and equipment all of which makes for more timeconsuming work for the staff (remember everything new also has to be documented)... and STILL no more staff to DO all this new stuff with.. we didn't have enough BEFORE Ultra Care and its added tasks ... much less now WITH all the "new and improved". So typical.

But... they are making a name for themselves, right? Just don't look behind the glitz and glamour. We now have even LESS time for our patients, so where is the CARE in THAT???

And until they implement the staffing ratio and the trending and the teamleaders, etc... and tech folks doing the tech stuff instead of the nurses (as is promised in Ultra care) and PCTs doing PCT stuff so nurses can concentrate more fully on the nursing demands... until all THIS is ALSO enacted, then Ultra Care is null and void in MY book.

That, my friend, is probably why I don't work for Fresenius.

[MedicalZebra]

I have asked what UltraCare is until I'm blue in the face, and none of the nurses seem to know. We get pamphlets extolling its virtues, but when you read them closely, they're blathering on for a full page and still tell you NOTHING!

I guess when they never tell you what it is, no one can complain when they don't achieve a goal.

[nosonew]

Glad I work for Davita... sometimes thing suck as in any job...but they DO care about us...and our patients...

New employees do watch videos on things like that, and also a video in which the "employee" is the patient...they see things through THEIR eyes... the camera is in the chair and sees/hears what is going on around them. It is quite an eye opener...really.

Of course, we can't truly comprehend what it is like in that "chair" until we are actually IN that chair...but the video is really, really an eye opener!

[imperial]

I agree that you can't teach someone to care about patients. If the money spent on all the marketing and customer service, we incorporated into the training/education period given to staff, it would much improve delivery of care. To spend millions on these ultracare and the like programs, to me, is ridiculous. One unit I am aware of just handed out forms for patients to fill in who is the BEST staff. I would much prefer to see a nurse educator in each facility, or at least in each area. There is so much misinformation given to patients as I am seeing over and over with those that I communicate with. Corporations are making money... fmc 1.5 billion net profit last year. Staff need to be paid more as well as more staff.

[jnette]

Originally Posted by MedicalZebra

I have asked what UltraCare is until I'm blue in the face, and none of the nurses seem to know. We get pamphlets extolling its virtues, but when you read them closely, they're blathering on for a full page and still tell you NOTHING!

I guess when they never tell you what it is, no one can complain when they don't achieve a goal.

Zebra, if you work for FMC, you WILL soon know what Ultra Care is.. believe me. It was a year before we got our training CDs, etc. on this.. before that it was all through the "grapevine".. knew it was coming.. just didn't know WHAT.
Then came the mandatory CDs, the following quizzes, "certification", etc.

Yes, ULTRA Care and its concepts are GOOD... not arguing that at all. It is educational, and would be IDEAL if all this could be implemented. And it COULD be.. IF they provided the facilities with the proper staffing and actually followed through on these promises. I LOVE learning and having a more detailed knowlege base about the nitty gritty aspects of much of what we do, what the machines do, the clearances, limits, values.. (which you DO learn with the Ultra Care CDs, etc.)... BUT.. to have that knowlege and still waste good nursing time pupming acid from the barrels/drums out in the sleet and snow with some electric pump down into the basement is NOT good use of nursing time IMO...
nor is doing inventory, diasafe machine testing and the other "technical dept." components... endlessly running supplies up from the basement, etc.

Ideal would be three patients per nurse, and two techs/pcts ON THE FLOOR with those nurses to ease the load and free up good nursing time and letting the techs do most of the NON nursing tasks. Even four patients this way would be manageable.. if we had enough pct's to help on the floor with tearing down the machines, setting them up, bringing the patients back and getting them ready, packing them up when getting then ready to leave... putting the flowsheets in the proton...

I would dearly LOVE to do the "trending".. where each nurse has three to four set patients for 6 mos. to a year.. and concentrate on these alone.. for ALL their needs.. and be knowlegeable about their tx., progress, interventions needed.. time to teach/educate.. all that good stuff nurses should be and would LIKE to be doing.

Sadly, we just don't HAVE that luxury. Heck, our DON/Clinical Manager herself is counted in the staffing grid as floor staff !!!

So again.. while Ultra Care has the right idea.. if they would truly implement it... ALL of it.. not just the extra AF Flow testing, daisafe testing. added documentation here and there and everywhere.. piling work on top of work when as it is we don't have enough hours in the day to do what we do NOW !!!

Don't just expect all this "extra" from an already overburned staff and not give us any extra floor staff to do it with !

Who knows,,, SOME privileged FMC facilities might already HAVE the extra staff to implement Ultra Care.. I have noticed that not ALL FMC facilities are alike.. not ALL are treated "equal".. in more affluent areas, I do believe some of these facilities do get the advantage... perhaps because these patients are more educated, aware or would complain more??? Who knows.

Don't talk to me about "quality care" and "customer service" when you treat the staff with utter disrespect and do not see, even WANT to see THEIR needs in order to PROVIDE this "ULTRA" care....