customer service rant

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

OK, so this is totally a rant. Here it goes...

On the radio yesterday there was a promo: "we will interview a flight attendant here and she will tell us how to get good service from the flight attendants on a plane." So to get good service I have to do something above and beyond purchasing a $500 ticket?? Airline flights clearly are classified as 'customer service' yet I have do something special to get the service for which I already paid good money? (In case you are wondering, I did not hear the actual interview. I do have a lot of respect for flight attendants--they put up with a lot and get very little recognitions. i just though the whole idea was pretty silly!)

Yet I have pts. who are paying nothing toward their bill and I am judged not on my nursing care but on my customer service skills. :uhoh3:

I don't know about that specific interview, but a lot of times when I see those kind of things, the main point they are trying to make is that if you want good customer service you should not act like a jackwagon. Then they give specific cases where the attendant encountered such and such situation and how it screwed everything up for everyone.

Like screaming "customers," abusive behavior toward staff, being extra special nit-picky and demanding, refusing to buckle up or turn off the cell phone, walking onto the plane hammered.

The same could be applied to nurses, however, nurses are not supported by management with those kind of "customers," and such interviews never happen because we are expected to provide good "customer' service to every single ass-hat that comes in the door.

Sad but true.

Well, I think of it a little differently. Yes, you paid good money for that flight and therefore expect good service. And I'll bet you'll get it, but I think the point the attendant would probably be making in the interview is that you could get GREAT service, above and beyond what you would expect for your ticket price, if only you followed some simple tips.

I am quite sure the same thing applies in the hospitals; when I worked the floor this was certainly a known fact.

The patient who is a royal PITA is going to get assessments, meds, ADL care, whatever is necessary to get through the shift without me killing her and her killing me. Her NEEDS will all be met, but I'm not going out of my way to give the PITA her WANTS.

Now, the patient who is kind, smiles and says "thank you so much" and hates asking for things because she doesn't want to become a bother is EXACTLY the one I'm going to do that extra step for. I might stick my head in the door a few more times than I need to, just to make sure she has enough blankets, would she like something to eat or drink, is her headache better? I'll help her with her TV remote and whatever makes her night go more smoothly, just because SHE was kind to me.

The PITA? Oh, she'll be alive in the morning, no doubt, to complain about how no one does anything at all for her, ever.

Flight attendants are the nurses of the sky. Their REAL job? To get you through the flight safely, to save your butt if something goes wrong. What people THINK their job is? To bring you a pillow and a beverage. :)

I agree with the couple posts prior. The more anyone can get out the message, "If you want to be treated well, don't be jerk!" the better. Somehow the Golden Rule got lost. What on earth will it take to get it back?

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

​if you want to be treated well, don't be a jerk. what simple advice. how strange that we have to actually give it. people used to understand that if you wanted to be treated well, you didn't act like a jerk!

Specializes in LTC, MDS Cordnator, Mental Health.

Our hospital is doing surveys and stressing good customer experiences. My unit has the worst surveys.... I told the Unit manager that most of the patients arrive in handcuffs...(i work in patient mental Health) Itis hard to Pleased them with the service.... LOL

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.

I hate being told "This is a VIP!". Or, . . . The patient who tells you all the Administrative Staff they know, or talk negatively about a co-worker!

I've found that patients who actually are a "VIP" in the minds of administration don't have to tell me they're a VIP, as their administration friends will let me know. If you're telling me that you know so-and-so, it's obviously not too well if they haven't come to tell me to be nice yet. :)

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.
I've found that patients who actually are a "VIP" in the minds of administration don't have to tell me they're a VIP, as their administration friends will let me know. If you're telling me that you know so-and-so, it's obviously not too well if they haven't come to tell me to be nice yet. :)

That is tooooooooo true, and half the time that's a heads up on (this patient is a real horses XXX, but please, don't disappoint us up here.)

As an ex flight attendant I can honestly say some people who get on planes often leave their minds, and their manners at the gate. To get great service follow the 3 p's. Be punctual (no the plane will not wait for you, unless you are the Captain scheduled to fly it), Be polite (would you grab someone's ass, breasts or whistle to get their attention on the ground?) and say Please. Goes a long way to making the flight enjoyable for all....

Ps.. If the flight attendants have asked you to move out of your aisle seat so that they can get to the unconscious, not breathing man seated in the window, don't argue, just do it!!! And don't ask me for a complimentary bottle of scotch for being moved.... while I'm busy doing CPR!!! Look around buddy- I'm a little busy right now......

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.

Is that comparible to being releaved of 10 minutes of chest compressions, 2 rounds of "Jolt", and pushing meds, . . . to run to the desk to call for ICU report (when the ER Resident can get that tube in), and being stopped for peanut butter, grahm crackers, and a 2% milk, . . .and something for Nausea?

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Is that comparible to being releaved of 10 minutes of chest compressions, 2 rounds of "Jolt", and pushing meds, . . . to run to the desk to call for ICU report (when the ER Resident can get that tube in), and being stopped for peanut butter, grahm crackers, and a 2% milk, . . .and something for Nausea?

I was charge one night in the ED when we had a code. I was reprimanded because there was a kid in another bed who wanted water and no one got it for him when he wanted it.

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