Nursing as a customer service profession?

SmilingBluEyes · Apr 23, 2003

Originally posted by Furball
One of the best nurses in my ICU has the personality of plain tofu...if she were an EKG tracing it would be flatline, never up, never down....but man, if I were in the ICU crapping out I would rather have her at my bedside than "Ms/Mr personailty" anyday.

PS She's had a few complaints from pts families that she was cool, not mean or nasty....just cool
to them.....never mind that she saved their loved ones lives on several occassions...ridiculous!

I work with a lot of these types myself. And same thing. EXTREMELY COMPETENT but very flat.

It will take the hospitals getting more and more desperate for nurses before they realize we are NOT waitstaff/butlers/maids, etc. (they get a real bang for their buck, I would say, smart business even if you ARE screwing the nurses).

And even THEN, don't hold your breath, because before they beg for nurses back, they will beg, borrow or steal every last nurse they can grab up from other countries---- nurses who WILL put up the garbage and lousy pay on top of it. Yes, they will do that LONG before they will realize our value ANY time soon. So like it or not, like stated above, you are in the customer service business or you get out and find some other opportunity as a nurse. it won't change any time soon.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2003

A close friend of mine was hospitalized for a total abd hyst. I was with her most of the time and the nursing care she received was deplorable. However, she wanted me to help her write a letter saying how great everyone was!

I told her about problems that occurred when she was just out of PACU, that if I had not been there to INSIST the problems be addressed, she may have had serious complications. The lack of care she got there was appalling.

BUT......everyone was VERY courteous!

CEOs and managers know that many lay-persons don't know the difference between good and bad care or good and bad staffing.

However.....

Everyone can tell if they are being treated courteously, or if no one ever said "please" or "thank you" during their stay.

This is just another way for CEOs and "health care" corps to fool the public.

Disguise the wolf of poor staffing in the sheep's clothing of super courteous customer service!

kitty=^..^=cat · Apr 23, 2003

"Competence is more than knowledge and skill -- it's how knowledge and skill are communicated through behaviors that are sensitive to the needs and expectations of the individual patient." --- Me. :)

--------------------------------

One of the best "customer service" facilities I've ever worked for used what seemed like a BATTALION of retired volunteers to do all kinds of the "nicey-nicey" things. Several different little old ladies would roll a magazine/flower delivery cart around to patient rooms throughout the day. It seemed to take the heat off nurses for things like TV channel changes, thermostat and lighting adjustments, telephone and water pitcher placement, etc. They all had their list of things to tell the nurse (pain, IV leaking, patient can't breathe...) and things to tell the CNA (needs to get up to pee, legs are in the siderail...) Our volunteers were frequently complimented by name in patient satisfaction survey comments and letters we got from former patients. They really seemed to make a big difference in keeping the patients happy.

renerian, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2003

Every client is a customer or potential customer. Heavy competition. You will see it in time.

renerian

kitty=^..^=cat · Apr 23, 2003

The truth is, people are always going to care about how they are treated. And sadly enough, our current malpractice crisis has almost as much to do with poor customer service as it does with bad care and a litigious society.

ceecel.dee, MSN, RN · Apr 24, 2003

Hospitals are big business! Nothing new.

I really don't think a smile costs a person much. Do your job well, and you don't need to have personality to spare...as long as you are unoffensive.

Even drafters, in their little cubicles with their computers, are expected to offer what they know, and find out what they don't if they answer the phone.

You needed some customer service skills at the grocery store you worked at in high school, and in the swimming lesson instructor job you held in summers....all jobs require it to some extent. Are the patient's or families at the Hilton?...NO!...but they are not at the Bate's motel either!

passing thru · Apr 24, 2003

"Proper" telephone communication is a reflection of your level of professionalism. Communication skills are one of the most desirable skills any professional can acquire.

Friendliness and courtesy are interpreted as caring aspects of nursing.

Simply try to treat people the way you would like to be treated or the way you would want your grandparents treated.

Patients are in an unfamiliar envoirment. The nurse is seen as

the "guide" through the maze, the "problem solver". We

can either "grease the wheels" of the bureaucracy or leave them to try & find their own way.

I choose to

be a leader, a facilitator.

Small things make a big difference in their comfort level.

Just last week, I admitted a patient for acute cholecystitis. She was 25 years old. She was a Down's Syndrome patient. Her

60' ish mom was at the bedside for the night. I admitted the patient at 11 p.m. They had been in the E.R . since 2 p.m.

I asked the mom, "have you had anything to eat?" She hadn't.

I had to go to two other units to find a sandwich and fruit and jello, made a fresh pot of coffee, milk and cookies (from my lunch), and juice. Placed it all on a tray....and took it to the patients' room. The pt. was NPO of course. Mom scarfed it all up in 15 minutes. Then found her a couple of pillows and a blanket.

This is my routine ....every shift. If a family member is staying and helping me with the patient, I am going to do all I can to see they are comfortable. It is my gesture to show my appreciation for what they are doing.

I'm sure this family will want to return to my hospital for any other needs they have. And, I imagine what they will remember is my sincere desire to make them comfortable, and familiarize them with our routines....not my nursing skills....cause frequently, nursing skills are performed in

ways that aren't real memorable, especially when there are no

complications.

I think of myself as an ambassador for my hospital.

And, yes, there are nurses and assistants who would not make the extra effort.

MrsK1223 · Apr 24, 2003

Now it would be nice if they would send the doctors to these customer service classes....after all they get paid the big bucks and get all the glory when its over and done....and I've known many to piss many a patient off and when its over they are suddenly "god".

SmilingBluEyes · Apr 24, 2003

passing thru, I applaud your efforts. Unfortunately, many of us do NOT have the spare time to be such "ambassadors" and really, truth be told, I am not interested in being such.

I AM interested in being a COMPETENT, caring and considerate nurse. I DO treat that patient in my care as if she were my mother/sister/friend/daughter. Cause she COULD EASILY BE and she is to SOMEONE. BUT I only have so much of "Me" to go around (as do my coworkers), and being an "ambassador" is not always on the list when acute care comes to into play.

But I agree. Little things mean a lot and I DO try to go the extra mile whenever possible. It IS important to me as a NURSE much more than it is as a rep of my hospital. It is part of being a NURSE to me.

ceecel.dee, MSN, RN · Apr 24, 2003

Originally posted by passing thru
[bCommunication skills are one of the most desirable skills any professional can acquire.
Friendliness and courtesy are interpreted as caring aspects of nursing.
Simply try to treat people the way you would like to be treated or the way you would want your grandparents treated.
I choose to
be a leader, a facilitator.
Small things make a big difference in their comfort level.
I think of myself as an ambassador for my hospital.
[/b]

AN EMPLOYER'S DREAM! A PATIENT'S DREAM! A FAMILY MEMBER'S DREAM! A COWORKER'S DREAM! and a good, christian human being.

You can be all of these without "selling out". Work ethic is important, rewarded or not by employer. Rewarded "in the long run", and by patient evaluations (formal or internal).

I hope YOU are the nurse on duty when my son breaks his neck trying the double back "sommy" off the diving board this summer! :kiss

moonshadeau, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, APN, NP, CNS · Apr 24, 2003

I agree that nursing must be driven in at least part by customer service. Especially now with the HIPPA rules in effect. Now I will be the first to say that I refuse to be someone's handmaiden when they expect it. For example, I overheard a patient say that we were holding back her water. And the general tone to her family was that we were torturing her Not true, her water was within reach the entire time and even offered to her when we helped her with some ADL's. It doesn't matter what the truth is, the only truth that the family know is that we are not providing basic care in their opinion.

Every person that we encounter is a "client". There is no two ways about it. If not only a client for the hospital, but also the family members that may be considering nursing as a career choice. I guess that my point is that it doesn't take any longer to smile at someone, introduce yourself at the beginning of each shift as the registered nurse or ask someone if need anything else before you rush out of the room. Customer service can be something as simple as keeping your promise to a patient. As in "I will be back in about 10 minutes" when you can, keeping your patient informed on what is going on with their care (tests they are waiting for, expected times and routines of procedures).

I don't think that customer service is that big of deal. I think that it is just common curtousy and respect. "do onto others".

debRNo1 · Apr 24, 2003

Originally posted by ?burntout
The hospital I work at is VERY into "customer service." We have even had a 4 HOUR class on customer service

My hospital which is part of a larger system also uses customer service "classes" during orientation. They borrow what they teach from a major hotel chain and mentioned DISNEY WORLD (where ALL employees smile ) more than once.

They showed a cute video of a man and his dog. They get hurt while jogging. The man is treated so badly at the doctors office and then at the hospital when he goes for Xrays. People are ignoring him and very rude. The doctor could care less and the nurse was mean. He gets lost at the hospital, nobody would direct him and one employee says "do I look like a MAP ?"Finally he finds xray and the tech picks a fight with him when he wants to xray the wrong body part. :eek:

Meanwhile the wife brings the dog to the vet. Top of the line treatment is given. Everyone is overly polite and helpful, the vet is caring and kind, and the staff is courteous and professional. Later on that evening the phone rings and it the vets office calling to see how the dog was doing- nobody called to see how HE was doing !!

Yes Yes my hospital is REAL BIG on customer service and that video was a good way of getting the point across.

deb