Nursing as a customer service profession?

mattsmom81 · May 5, 2003

Great post Jan!! :)

Couldn't think of a way to say it better than you did!!!

liberalrn · May 6, 2003

wow. What a thread. Hafta agre with the oldeis but goodies out there....I once went to an inservice at 0300 (when I worked nights) to learn how to answer the phone. Ya know, my mom taught me how to answer the phone when I was 7. It's insulting. Care, compassion and courtesy are inherent in nursing. In my 16 years as an RN I have come across perhaps 5 boorish unprofessional nurses. We all learnde the lesson quite quickly--if you are impatient or short w/ a pt, that's the pt who won't get off the light....much better to practice a little anticipatory guidance and tlc first.

I also was shown that video and sad to say...I think it is true.

healingtouchRN · May 6, 2003

One must remember that the clients/patients have a right (most of the time) to choose where they do business, & if they PERCEIVE poor service, they will tell their friends & family not to come to your hopital/clinic/place of business. This effects business! Remember what I said about perception, you can do a good job & have a flat effect because you are busy & guess what? You have just given the impression that YOU DON"T CARE! Bad for business. My company can FIRE an employee for rudeness, yup, they can, & they have! Reason being? People come to our hospital & have good service, get well, go home....they tell one or two people "I had favorable visit to XYZ Hospital", but let them have a delay in the ER, multiple sticks from the lab, a medication error, & several uncaring, busy, or sassy staff & they are paying for this???? They will broadcast it to every listener available! So, know we are all about service, put yourself in their shoes, or your mama in their shoes. You get more with honey than vinegar!:kiss

LilgirlRN, ADN, RN · May 6, 2003

Unfortunately we work in a business, hospitals are a business, they are in business to make money. Even not-for-profit hospitals are in business to make money. Repeat customers make money for the hospital, if the staff is not nice they will not come back. Treating the patient as if they were your own family member is key, it's what I was taught in school and has been mentioned several times here. However you leave your patient is what they will remember. If your patient is cold and you don't give them a blanket all they will remember is being cold, if they are in pain all they will remember is pain unless you do something about it. Call it customer service or call it being a human being it's what you did do to help them that counts to the patient (and what you charted that counts to the hospital). As far as family members go, I try to think of them as being on the team with the patient and you're treating the team. Most family members really aren't trying to chap your a$$, they are either really concerned or scared that mama is gonna leave them this time, or maybe they are trying to score points by showing so much "concern" by yelling at the nurse. There will always be those patients and family members that no matter what you do you can't do anything right, that's when I call for backup and let someone else try. As overworked and as stressed as nurses are these days, it's a wonder there aren't more complaints than there are. Most patients and their families are aware that there is a nursing shortage and take that into consideration. As far as I'm concerned the best thing ever invented to improve customer satisfaction is the blanket warmer :)

healingtouchRN · May 6, 2003

wish every unit had one! my massage therapist said to me just last nite, "a warm blanket is the best thing & a cold blanket is the worst"! :cool:

healingtouchRN · May 6, 2003

Lilgirl, what part of Alabama are you in? I am in the capitol city. Have a great nurses week!

healingtouchRN · May 6, 2003

thanks for all you do!:kiss

udontwannabme · May 6, 2003

Suz, You are sooooooo right. thank you for that post

jenac · May 6, 2003

In LTC- "customer service" is a way of life. Dealing with demanding residents and families is no different here than it would be if I were making burgers for a living. Everyone wants it their way (:) )- and anything else is wrong. You have to take it all in stride. If I can do the little things to make someone more comfortable or happier-they will be quieter and I will (in theory anyway) get more done in the long run. As for demanding families-you do what you can. You deal with what you can-and sometime that means reminding them that there are other residents needing care too. For example- when Mrs. daughter is upset and yelling about the extra 30 seconds it took an aide to answer mom's call-light for ice, I would generally respond with a "I'm sorry it took so long-they were down the hall helping someone else with their needs. I'd be happy to get that ice for you. Is there anything else I can do for you while I'm here?" That extra two minutes in that particular room now will save me extra time running back to answer the call-light or smooth ruffled feathers later on. Some people are never satisfied though-and I refer them to our DON or Administrator if they have further complaints. "I'm sorry you feel that way. We have done our best to do what you've asked in the best way we can. I would suggest that if you are unsatisfied with your loved ones care, you take any further complaints to the DON or Administrator." It usually stops right there.

Being nice is easy-being nasty takes much more energy and time.

jadednurse · May 6, 2003

I think alot of the problems associated w/ the whole "customer service" issue arise from the general public's perception of nursing and the healthcare industry in general. In general, the average American health care consumer (and they are consumers, they pay through the nose for health care) seems to have a general mistrust of health care providers. And, IMHO, who can blame them? Patients often fell that information is not communicated to them (and it's not) and that they receive less than adequate care (and they do) and that the care they recieve is often rushed and impersonal (and it often is).

Try being on the "other side of the bedrail" as a previous post put it. Over the last few years I have been the patient, the family member, the loved one of a patient and it's given me an interesting and enlightening perspective. And it ain't pretty folks. My family and loved ones were often aghast at the attitudes of many of the nurses, doctors, ancillary staff, administrators, etc. And truth be told, so was I. And with an "insider's" perspective, I often felt torn between defending the nurses/hospital system and condemning them at the same time. It really makes you think twice about your own attitudes and delivery as a nurse.

I agree with the emphasis being placed on being courteous, caring, helpful and compassionate toward patients and their families. They are, after all, sick, injured, scared, concerned people...they are not out for an afternoon delight of burgers and fries at the local McDonalds. That being said, I do not agree with the way these ideas are being "marketed" by hospital administration, many of whom have never walked a day in nurses' shoes. The message is important, but the method of delivery is insulting!

SmilingBluEyes · May 6, 2003

Having been an inpatient twice in the last year, I agree that compassion is key. I also agree many times patients/families are not informed as they should be; balls are dropped. There is no doubt. I also feel, though, blame falls squarely on the shoulders of those that believe nurses should be able to do it all. Obviously, (to us, anyhow), we CANNOT be ancilliary people (lab/pulmonary, etc), housekeeping, psychologists, AND be effective nurses TOO. As it is, where I work, we don't have aides, so yes, we do all that they would do, too. We act as housekeepers, being stuck emptying trash in all the rooms cause they are overflowing and mopping floors so people don't fall when something is spilled. We have to clean up hours-old dinner trays and take them down to the kitchen ourselves half the time. In addition, We do our own lab draws, and a lot of what used to be "non-nursing" tasks.

So those that believe we are in the customer service business and we should be able to do it all, I ask: Where do NURSING tasks fall in the priority list? We CANNOT always do "more with less" as the bean counters would like to believe. SOMETHING will be UNDONE....and G-d forbid, it is our CRITICAL NURSING TASK that it is.

THAT is my whole HEARTBURN with the customer-service model of thinking. Blame always conveniently falls SQUARELY on nursings' shoulders. After all, we are the ones to have direct contact with our "customers" a majority of the time. I firmly believe SOMETHING has to change or things will continue to get worse for those "on the other side of the bed rail". The hospitals have never been prettier, fancier, more like "home", but what good are fancy color schemes if NO ONE is there when you need a nurse?

Furball · May 6, 2003

Perfect post up there, agree totally. Of course the golden rule is paramount, but nurses are spread much too thin to be able to give always-never fail prompt attention to non emergent (yet important) needs of the pt.