Do you work at Hilton?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Nurses, do you ever feel like you work at the Hilton?

hospital-sign-not-hilton.png

Some people simply will not have anything good to say about someone else, period. It is just their personality. Our hospital is spotless; we have a great housekeeping department and it shows! The building itself is not that old, so it still "looks modern." But to look at our patient satisfaction scores, you would think the patients thought they were in a pig-pen. Also, our doctors are very lenient (too lenient) with IV pain meds, but we seem to get lower scores on pain management, too. Weird. I think the more we cater to them and their extended family members, the more they expect.

Someone wrote on a local forum where I live that their mother received "poor care" during her hospital stay and then went on a rant about a nurse telling her they didn't have soda.

I responded to that post and was like, "Poor care? I really expected a complaint more serious than 'they didn't have soda'." It's ridiculous. I would not consider "poor care" to be anything other than actual neglect or harm involving a medical issue, basically.

When I was in the hospital (before I entered nursing) I didn't even know that you could request anything other than ice water considering they brought meals to the room. Even then, I would have a family member fetch ice for me. I assumed if I wanted something other than what the cafeteria brought then I would have to ask a family member to buy it and bring it. I just wonder how these people even got to where they even have the expectations that they do! Seriously...I thought the call light was for an "emergency" kind of need, and anything else would just wait until somebody came by to check on me. :rolleyes:

Someone wrote on a local forum where I live that their mother received "poor care" during her hospital stay and then went on a rant about a nurse telling her they didn't have soda. I responded to that post and was like, "Poor care? I really expected a complaint more serious than 'they didn't have soda'." It's ridiculous. I would not consider "poor care" to be anything other than actual neglect or harm involving a medical issue, basically. When I was in the hospital (before I entered nursing) I didn't even know that you could request anything other than ice water considering they brought meals to the room. Even then, I would have a family member fetch ice for me. I assumed if I wanted something other than what the cafeteria brought then I would have to ask a family member to buy it and bring it. I just wonder how these people even got to where they even have the expectations that they do! Seriously...I thought the call light was for an "emergency" kind of need, and anything else would just wait until somebody came by to check on me. :rolleyes:
Did "Mrs. No Soda" respond to your post?
Did "Mrs. No Soda" respond to your post?

Actually she did and that's when she started saying things like, "People shouldn't have to wait for 30 minutes when they call for help to the bathroom and end up peeing their pants" and I was like, "Interesting. You never mentioned that until AFTER people said your complaint was ridiculous. Besides, if she's having to go to the restroom urgently then why would you want to give her soda?"

She said that she had requested to speak to the manager, but they told her the manager was busy. I said, "You do know that family members are allowed to assist in their family's care. Why didn't you go and get her a soda so the nursing staff and the manager could worry about important things like...oh...making sure people don't die!"

I also reminded her that there are people in the hospital who have personal sitters come and stay with them and those people will hold the cup to the patient's lips if they want them to, but they cost money, and while everyone wants their family member to have 1:1 care, they don't want to pay for it.

While I am getting your 25th soda, my other patient peed her pants......

I'm not a nurse, but up until recently I was a CNA working in one of those upscale rehab facilities.

There was a middle-aged man who came to our facility from the hospital, absolutely livid that he had to be in the same facility as "the senile." This man was apparently under the impression that he was going to a resort, thanks to our very clever marketers. In all seriousness, he asked the RN when he could expect to mingle with others his age, and from his understanding--did we have a professional chef at the facility! Because he was starving, but why did the "stupid doctor" say he had to be NPO? :roflmao:

We very tempted to inform him that shuffleboard was to begin at 1400, followed by a wine tasting party, and an ice cream social after dinner complete with a live jazz band.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

I think all these posts should be sent to the CMS, the Dept of Human services and Pres Obama.

Let them know this is where our healthcare is at. It's not healing and caring for the sick, the diseases they bring to the healthcare facility, it's the 5 star Hotel and it's amenities. The money in HEALTHCARE is being wasted on marketing and advertising campaigns. If I were the CMS- I would not pay for this either. This is not why the patient is there to begin with. This is why these chronic diseases are not "managed" and there is no dent made into controlling these diseases, no improvement in the overall health state of these patients. If this is what the administration of these hosptials want to spend their money on, instead of more nursing staff, that is on them; so, NO the CMS is not obligated to dish out more reimbursement to them. These posts are examples of our poorly run health care facilites and is not reflection on the nurses who work in them. These hospitals have their money, what they choose to spend it on, is on them.

It's time for some laws passed to stop this kind of behavior. These administrations are indangering the lives of the general public.

Who would you see first?

1. A fresh post-op with chest pain.

2. A COPD patient with shortness of breath.

3. A patient who's threatening to give a bad review on the customer satisfaction service survey because their chicken broth is too salty.

4. A patient who states, "my hand is blue because someone left a tourniquet on my arm."

Correct answer: 3

Rationale: Customer service is the number one priority in nursing. If we don't have good scores on the survey, we will not be reimbursed. If we don't get reimbursed, the hospital will shut down. Therefore, you must always prioritize customer service over the ABC's because you won't have the opportunity to treat the issues with the ABC's if the hospital is no longer open.

ROFL, I'll keep this in mind as I start nursing school! :sarcastic:

@Ntheboat2: Some lady got angry with me because her "Mom has orders (LOL) for coffee at every meal! Where is it?!" And I informed her that our coffee machine was broken. Rude daughter rolls her eyes at me and says, "Yeah, right." and demands to see the RN... because clearly, we CNA's weren't paying attention in class when the teacher instructed us on how to fix coffee makers.

So I went to the kitchen, unplugged the coffee maker, brought some ground coffee, and brought it to the patient's room. I demonstrated to her that it was broken, and she shut up.

It's funny that people think how through sheer assertiveness, the coffee machine will magically get fixed, or that soda would magically appear in the kitchen.

I wonder what she put on the survey. It was probably about me and the RN, and how we suck at fixing coffee makers.

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Nurses are the ones the patients and their families see, therefore everything is the nurse's fault. And management also seems to believe this as well.

Nurses are the ones the patients and their families see, therefore everything is the nurse's fault. And management also seems to believe this as well.

Patient satisfaction surveys are subjective... I don't understand how lay people are qualified to evaluate professional nursing care?

EDIT: Some family members are great; they understand when I tell them the RN will be with them ASAP... Others are simply looking for a way to express their frustration and sense of entitlement.

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Patient satisfaction surveys are subjective... I don't understand how lay people are qualified to evaluate professional nursing care?

And that's the problem. I wouldn't dream of walking into a law firm and evaluating the lawyers because I know next to nothing about how to practice law. It's the same for patients- they don't know how to be nurses. (With, of course, the exception of patients who really are nurses, excluding those who work in a hospital and wear scrubs but aren't really nurses.)

And that's the problem. I wouldn't dream of walking into a law firm and evaluating the lawyers because I know next to nothing about how to practice law. It's the same for patients- they don't know how to be nurses. (With, of course, the exception of patients who really are nurses, excluding those who work in a hospital and wear scrubs but aren't really nurses.)

Exactly.

I have visions of nurses wearing skimpy bras with those old-fashioned trays strapped over their necks saying "Cigar? Cigarette?" Oh. . . Wait. . . .

LOL

Maybe it might be medical marijuana instead. . . Of course then they'd be requiring more munchies. ;)

Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.

I love it that I get yelled at by patients when I direct them to the vending machines for Coke because we only carry sprite and ginger ale. We are a cardiac unit. Caffeine isn't going to be standard. I also enjoy it when a patient wants a cup of coffee every hour during the night then complains that they can't sleep. Ugh. I hate surveys and that every wall in the hospital is plastered with 5s. Even my name badge is a 5 to encourage very good care.

+ Add a Comment