[NurseWretched]

Oh, Dear God...this sounds farking crazy! I've never wanted to work in a hospital anyway! This whole 'customer service' push is contributing greatly to the grand sense of entitlement that is running rampant t/o our medical care system. Nurses take the brunt of everyone's anger regarding the system...and we have no control over any of it! We're ALL frustrated and we have good reason to be!

*Lack of preventative care and follow-up care because insurance refuses to pay for it.
*Not enough staff because administration wants big salaries and bonuses.
*High pharmaceutical cost AND constant changing of treatment regimens/meds to appease the insurance companies when they don't feel like covering something anymore.
*Unnecessary tests and treatments because the docs are money hungry.
*Undertreatment for the homeless/indigent.

And furthermore...
Employers (in general) and 'the system' do not hold themselves to anywhere near the standards they impose on their nurses. Quite frankly, I see alot of 'medication errors' as being driven by the system! Changing an effective medication and or treatment regimen to a far less effective one due to cost is a med error! You should see what this does to my psych clients! Some of them never return to their previous level of funcitoning!
*Employer attitudes...i.e. 'Just one more thing' and 'Nurses can do no RIGHT'.

My last employer 'Just one more thing-ed' us to death. Horrible, horrible job that was/is indicative of what alot of nurses are going through right now. Sad, but true.

[jlsRN]

Hey, I have a good joke, want to hear it???




How do you fit an elephant in a Safeway bag?





give up?
Hint: Take the 'f' out of the 'way' in Safeway

[VivaRN]

So what if I didn't fill out the whiteboard... maybe I was busy PROTECTING MY PATIENT'S AIRWAY AFTER HE CHOKED ON HIS OWN VOMIT!!!

Excellent.

Does anyone else feel like we've landed in "1984"? Do they really think this is the way to make patients feel cared for? I'm a professional, not a 4 year old. When nurses are content and able to spend time with patients, that will make them "happy." When we are adequately staffed to protect them from complications, that is "happiness."

Why is this so hard to figure out?

[annmariern]

Glad its not just me feeling more than a little queasy reading this. Zofran anyone?

[NurseWretched]

When we actually have time for REAL patient care...you know, that stuff we learned in nursing school and never saw again! People whom are ill need time and meticulous care. They need the care that all of us long to provide...if we'd ever find the time! At one job, I work in transitional care with 20-25 patients. Sometimes I'd get two admits on my section. I'd leave nursing long before I'd do that again! I miss my patients, though! They were victims of a cold, uncaring system!

[VivaRN]

Originally Posted by NurseWretched

When we actually have time for REAL patient care...you know, that stuff we learned in nursing school and never saw again! People whom are ill need time and meticulous care. They need the care that all of us long to provide...if we'd ever find the time! At one job, I work in transitional care with 20-25 patients. Sometimes I'd get two admits on my section. I'd leave nursing long before I'd do that again! I miss my patients, though! They were victims of a cold, uncaring system!

Amen, sister!

[wooh]

Originally Posted by funinsun

They post the results of the surveys (by the month) on the back of the bathroom stalls-you can't get away from it!haha

Our Press Gainey scores get posted in our staff bathroom. One particularly bad month (when there were only 4 respondents for our floor) TWO different MDs that used that bathroom wrote on it that they wouldn't trust anything with a sample size that small. The main complaint was that we didn't take care of something until the next shift came in. I remembered that patient, we kept going in there before the end of the shift, the patient was prancing around the hospital off the floor until an hour after our shift ended. But there goes my raise because our PG scores aren't high enough!
Maybe we should have said "excellent" over the hospital intercom at least 5 times while they were roaming the halls and lobby.

[wooh]

Originally Posted by Emmanuel Goldstein

LOL

Is it just me, or do you find yourself reading some of the posts here describing crap like this and just wanting to *smack* someone?

I want to stick a P somewhere that the sun don't shine myself.

[Bugaloo]

I'll take 2 Reglan, please. The hospital that I worked at for 6 years came up with this stupid crap. They hired some big wig company to tell us what we were doing wrong in the area of customer service. Heck, we would have told them what was wrong for FREE. Hire more nurses and CNA's. Lower nurseatient ratios and listen to our concerns. Ohhh Brother!!!!!

We were told to say "Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave your room?". The problem was, 9 times out of 10, yes, there was something else that we could do for them, which took an extra 10-15 minutes, then they would be back on the call light 5 minutes after you left the room because they "forgot" something! The idea was that if you asked them this question before you left the room, it would cut down on frequent call light use. Nada, DID NOT WORK!.

Another thing they wanted us to say, when (or if) the patient said "Thank You", you were supposed to respond, "It was my pleasure" and SMILE.

I have always been one to speak my mind. I am also educated and articulate. You do not need to put words in my mouth, thank you very much. I am an adult, not a 4 year old. After a year of this ridiculousness, I left for greener pastures. See Yaaaaa!

We, as professionals, are absolutely right to be offended by being told how to act, how to speak, etc...I wonder what would happen if they gave the docs a script? OMG!!! Heads would roll!

[SaderNurse05]

Originally Posted by llg

If one more check-out person at the grocery store asks me, "Did you find everything you needed today?" I think I'll scream. It's obviously a scripted line they are forced to say to every customer. PI am tempted to give them smart-a**** comments back, but I know it's not their fault that they are forced to ask the exact same question every time.

Really, this whole "scripting" idea is ridiculous. It's a good idea to suggest some possible lines that people can use when they check on a patient, etc. -- but the nurse should always be allowed to personalize it and/or use a little judgment to be sure that what he/she says is appropriate for the specific circumstances. Some people are shy and can use a few suggestions to get them started. But that's a far cry from forcing a specific script.

One more thing to drive good people out of nursing.... another "excellent" idea mutilated beyond its usefulness.

Want to see something funny? I actually asked for something I could not find. Talk about a deer in the headlights moment... Now I know it is a scripted line so I don't try and confuse them. I am talking about grocery stores, not nurses. That is what happens when you post after Thanksgiving libations!!