Management is turning the hospital into the Four Seasons (If they could)

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Dec 24, 2007

I hear your pain loud and clear, it is pure insanity. If something doesn't go their way, pt relations sends flower/fruit baskets, meal vouchers, valet parking vouchers its ridiculous...B/c the hospital doesn't provide deodorant ???? floss???? pls people .

Management does not care about nurses or patient care for that matter. They only care about their budget and pt satisfaction scores, bottom line. I get less service at a 5 star resort. This is a hospital people, you should be concerned about getting proper and safe medical care, competent and caring nurses and physicians, lets see.. sterile equpment, adequate medicine/antibiotics, not a room with a better view, or more channels on your TV. Last year my hospital replaced all the TV's with flat screen plasma's about 850, but still the same crappy cable, so the pic quality isn't better, but the point is, ALL of the patients were saying, WHY DONT THEY HIRE MORE NURSES INSTEAD of replacing the TV's. ( at least the normal ones) It's all bullcrap.

I've had it. went to casual. no longer interested in working for a hospital, I'm sure somewhere over the rainbow there's a job for me..I'm taking my time You have my empathy, I have no answers, just rants...

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 24, 2007

Maybe management is sick and tired of telling adults how to treat other human beings - with dignity and respect, rather than as a room number, a diagnosis or an "it". Maybe they are tired of getting complaints of uncompassionate and uncaring nurses.

MikeyJ, RN · Dec 24, 2007

Not trying to stir up anything, but I can understand from management's perspective why this happens. A hospital is a BUSINESS, plain and simple. It is a business that offers a service and they need money coming in to pay the staff, bills, etc. They NEED to compete with other hospitals in the area for business, and if that requires offering flat screen TV's, providing steam pressed bathrobes, then so be it.

I work at a county hospital that is pretty run down (thankfully they are slowly improving), where equipment is old, beds are old, parents of the children on the pediatrics floor are forced to sleep sitting up in a chair... and the hospital is in serious financial trouble because it is unable to attract clients with insurance. Unfortunately the hospital's main patients are those patients who are unable to pay for the hospital services or illegal immigrants (we have a massive illegal immigrant population here).

The other hospitals in the area attract the rest of the clients because they have single occupancy rooms that have comfortable beds, flat screen TV's, fresh flowers in the room, beautiful amenities. So those amenities certainly make a difference in the long run when speaking of finances.

delvenia · Dec 24, 2007

Maybe management is sick and tired of telling adults how to treat other human beings - with dignity and respect, rather than as a room number, a diagnosis or an "it". Maybe they are tired of getting complaints of uncompassionate and uncaring nurses.

i couldn't agree more. it seems liek many nurses are in it for reasons other than what they should be in it for. my mother had suregery last year and i literally have to stay in the hospital with her all three days. she went to the bathroom and got stuck for about 15 minutes and no one came to help her. when i went to the nurses station to ask why they left her there like that, her room was still buzzing their station and they ignored me. they had the worst attitudes. personally, i believe that you should treat the patients well, after all, we have/will all be patients at some point in our lives. what's the problem with treating people well and wanting them to be happy, despite having to be in a hospital, sick and away from their families?

hollyberry678 · Dec 24, 2007

I am a new grad, but an 'old' new grad. I worked as an NA when I was an undergrad in the 80's (liberal arts). It was purely luck that I got assigned this work-study job (not even my choice) every other weekend plus various shifts here and there, on an Ortho unit at the Univ Hospital. My eyes were wide open at some of the things I saw, sad at others, but I loved it. They had me cleaning IV poles if we were slow. I left exhausted everyday. Later I was house orderly.

ANYWAY, I remember that they had televisions on wheels, and you had to RENT them. Not every patient got it, they got billed extra.

Does anyone remember this? Circa 1985...And you could smoke in the break room...

sharann, BSN, RN · Dec 24, 2007

Maybe management is sick and tired of telling adults how to treat other human beings - with dignity and respect, rather than as a room number, a diagnosis or an "it". Maybe they are tired of getting complaints of uncompassionate and uncaring nurses.

I am NOT in management or even close to it(not my cup of coffee), but I agree with you Tweet. We have always answered the phone Good Morning this is ____

Unit____speaking. For years! Never been forced to do it. Cannot tell you how many nurses, secretaries, etc, have no clue on basic phone manners.

I do draw the line at back massages! Now massage is very theraputic but if the hospital wants to provide this service(it is a service like nursing care and medical care), they need to provide the massage therapist. hat is worong with trying to make patients feel more comfortable? Yes, basic care is what we are after, and if we are not staffed adequately then we can't do what we can't do.

I have been a patient before and I never was harsh or demanding with my nurses but if you are rude to me then I am not pleased. Most people respond to care and compassion. Try it, you might find they are on the call light LESS often if you provide a bit more personable attention first off.

happydays352 · Dec 24, 2007

It sure makes it hard to be caring and compassionate when mngt practices lead to nurses being unable to eat or pee for 12 hours. I wouldn't have to time be caring if I had ten pts to take care of, I'd settle for keeping them all alive. Most nurses I've met want to take care of people they want to be able to go the extra mile, but they can't. Often times because they just don't have the time or resources.

Hmmm TV's or better care? Yeah clearly management has the right priorities.

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Dec 24, 2007

maybe management is sick and tired of telling adults how to treat other human beings - with dignity and respect, rather than as a room number, a diagnosis or an "it". that's pretty appauling, glad i don't work there ! maybe they are tired of getting complaints of uncompassionate and uncaring nurses.

that may be the case in some places,our unit consistantly ranks high, letters upon letters of accolades,awards about the nursing care,etc. in fact all of the vip's in the community, hospital etc.(regardless of the service they are admitted under) request to be inpt's on our unit and get exceptional care.

what i'm saying is that if the pt c/o via the pt satisfaction survey, they had to wait 2 hrs to get discharged, the nurses get the backlash, it doesn't matter that we had to wait for the md's to put in the order and scripts...they had to wait for the food to be delivered, even if the nurse called down 2 or 3 times, the complaint is still reflected on nursing.

reasonable wait time is not an option,we are encouraged to tell them something will take longer than it actually does( lying some would say), so when it is delivered on time, they will think they got exceptional care "isn't that excellent"!!!

uncompassionate and uncaring nurses are in the wrong field, and their attitude needs to be addressed on an individual basis.

the op's post was not talking about nurses behaviors, but customer service based care/response, and the ridiculous expectations that pt's should be entitled to. we should be entitled to safe nurse-pt ratios, compensation for ot, or even a meal. --work 8.5 hrs but get an unpaid 1/2 hr lunch, even a bank teller gets a paid lunch.

.

honestly, i don't think it is management's fault.--they became helpless a few years ago,their hand's are tied . the administration is on top of them, they are just the footsoldiers. they only want to keep their jobs,so they do what they are told, pretend to listen to nursing concerns--nowadays, they don't even pretend anymore... years ago the nm would back-up their nurses,not anymore, they are called patient service representatives for a very good reason

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Dec 24, 2007

I am a new grad, but an 'old' new grad. I worked as an NA when I was an undergrad in the 80's (liberal arts). It was purely luck that I got assigned this work-study job (not even my choice) every other weekend plus various shifts here and there, on an Ortho unit at the Univ Hospital. My eyes were wide open at some of the things I saw, sad at others, but I loved it. They had me cleaning IV poles if we were slow. I left exhausted everyday. Later I was house orderly.
ANYWAY, I remember that they had televisions on wheels, and you had to RENT them. Not every patient got it, they got billed extra.
Does anyone remember this? Circa 1985...And you could smoke in the break room...

YUP, $3.00 a day for a TV, if you were an employee who was hospitalized it WAS FREE WAAHOOOO!!!!! what a perk, Oh yeh, always got my report with a cup of joe and a smoke.. :smokin: ..memories

Tait, MSN, RN · Dec 24, 2007

It sure makes it hard to be caring and compassionate when mngt practices lead to nurses being unable to eat or pee for 12 hours. I wouldn't have to time be caring if I had ten pts to take care of, I'd settle for keeping them all alive. Most nurses I've met want to take care of people they want to be able to go the extra mile, but they can't. Often times because they just don't have the time or resources.
Hmmm TV's or better care? Yeah clearly management has the right priorities.

I can see your point in this. I am a very large supporter of better customer service and over all better care (see my article in the articles section "Putting Hospitality Back in the Hospital).

People in general understand that the hospital is not the Holiday Inn. But is it so wrong to expect a smile from thier CNA, a meal they actually WANT to eat (ie if they hate turkey not having to shove it off the plate every meal because no one cares?) and prompt assistance to the bathroom.

It sounds like a lot of people are more frustrated with thier management, then they are with the idea of customer service.

Being sick in the hospital, afraid, lonely and out of thier element is bad enough for patients, but then to feel like they are in the way, ignored and not human makes that pain even worse.

The career of nursing is going through a major phase change again in my opinion, and we must press on to demand the respect and working conditions we need from our management so we DO have the energy to WANT to smile at our patients when we go in the room!

Tait

Wenckebach RN · Dec 25, 2007

Maybe management is sick and tired of telling adults how to treat other human beings - with dignity and respect, rather than as a room number, a diagnosis or an "it". Maybe they are tired of getting complaints of uncompassionate and uncaring nurses.

That's the reason, because of surly or lazy nurses. Yes, not every nurse is Florence Nightingale, some are, in fact, Nurse Ratchet.