Scripting: Yea or Nay?

[UM Review RN]

For those of you who use scripting, tell us what you think about it and when you use it.

I was surprised to find that I have a few "scripts" that I regularly use and the technique works quite well to get across ideas or messages.

I use scripting when I'm doing an admission:

"Please be aware that you will be assessed by a nurse at least every 8 hours and we will take your vital signs that frequently as well."

"Please be aware that you have Patient Rights and you also have Patient Responsibilities..."

"Please be aware that your doctor will base most of your treatment on how you feel and what your lab work says about your condition. That means that if the doc comes in at 0600, he expects the Lab results to be on your chart. Which means that the Lab will have to draw your blood at ungodly hours of the night....."

[UnewmeB4]

They use it in all the local stores...and I hate it! "Did you find everything you were looking for?" I feel like saying, "no, want to help me find..." I don't think it would bother me, however, all the stores seem to be using the same script. After being in and our of 3 stores all next to each other...It is annoying. After awhile, one sounds like a parrot.

[llg, PhD, RN]

They use it in all the local stores...and I hate it! "Did you find everything you were looking for?" I feel like saying, "no, want to help me find..." I don't think it would bother me, however, all the stores seem to be using the same script. After being in and our of 3 stores all next to each other...It is annoying. After awhile, one sounds like a parrot.

I had to laugh when I read this because my grocery store says, "Did you have any trouble finding everything?" After 100 times, it gets silly.

But ... I do find that I have some phrases I use regularly when I teach certain classes and/or deal with certain issues at work. It's not that someone handed me a script and forced me to use them ... it's that experience has taught me that they work well.

As some other posters have said ... some people need to be given "suggestions" as to what to say in certain situations because they won't do a good job without them. For those people, I think having some scripts can be a good thing. However, I believe the scripts should be somewhat flexible to allow for individualization. In other words ... a little "ad libbing" and "improvization" should be allowed and even encouraged.

llg

[sbic56, BSN, RN]

After viewing some of the things you're expected to say, I can see why you feel it's silly.

Did you notice how it's OK for the Business Office to say they're busy, but not Nursing?

And what's with that stilted "exceed your expectations" thing? Does that mean that they'll get such good care that they'll live forever or something? Exactly what does "exceeding expectation" mean to a patient who's in a terminal condition???

I use the term "scripting" to mean a polite phrasing of a communication, not necessarily "robotic" nursing. Some of those phrases are awkwardly constructed and can't fail to come out sounding phoney or stilted.

I would hope that my Nursing Department would insist on having a say in which of these phrases get adopted by the facility.

I think we all have our own way of saying things that work for us. I wouldn't want every nurse that walked in the room to sound like the last one. That would make me feel like an inanimate object after awhile. I imagine scripting was adopted to solve problems that those less socially adept were causing with patients. At the place I work scripting came in the same package as the "fish" philosophy, if you're familiar with that one! The whole deal was too much to take for alot of us.

[CA CoCoRN, RN]

I don't call it a script...but I do have a schpiel which I tailor to the pt as applicable. I even translate it into Spanish when necessary.

I find that I don't say the same thing the same way all the time...but I hit the same points. I don't like to say the same thing the same way because it seems to become devoid of emotion and "connection" with the pt. So my schpiel changes as my pt's do...some points I may hit earlier in the conversation....but I make all the points and answer all the questions.

[dbsn00]

http://www.baptistleadershipinstitute.com/Articles/Articles.aspx?ContentID=100004

This link pretty much sums it up. I had already learned how to communicate effectively prior to "scripting" being all the rage at a hospital where I work. I refused to do it, as did most of us there. Pretty silly, IMO.

It sounds just like what it is...a script. This would actually make me nervous if I weren't a nurse & heard it as a patient & as a nurse if I were a patient it would make me laugh - I love the part about "I have plenty of time" :chuckle

[sbic56, BSN, RN]

It sounds just like what it is...a script. This would actually make me nervous if I weren't a nurse & heard it as a patient & as a nurse if I were a patient it would make me laugh - I love the part about "I have plenty of time" :chuckle

I suppose the "I have the time" line might be effective if you could say it with a straight face! :chuckle

[humglum, BSN, RN]

Nay. I work peds, and most of the time I'm talking to the parent(s), and scripting really wouldn't be appropriate. I always ask if they have any further questions, or if there's anything else I can help them with, but that's a matter of routine and not of script.

I can see how it would be more appropriate in adult areas, though. Especially the part about nursing assessment, frequent VS, and lab draws.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I had to laugh when I read this because my grocery store says, "Did you have any trouble finding everything?" After 100 times, it gets silly.

But ... I do find that I have some phrases I use regularly when I teach certain classes and/or deal with certain issues at work. It's not that someone handed me a script and forced me to use them ... it's that experience has taught me that they work well.

As some other posters have said ... some people need to be given "suggestions" as to what to say in certain situations because they won't do a good job without them. For those people, I think having some scripts can be a good thing. However, I believe the scripts should be somewhat flexible to allow for individualization. In other words ... a little "ad libbing" and "improvization" should be allowed and even encouraged.

llg

My local Safeway is like that. Every time someone who works there walks by they ask the same scripted question. And then they have to call you by your proper name - which is polite but this is a small town and I know them all by their first name.

The funny thing is, I also complain when I go into a store and can't find anyone to help me Just can't please some people. :chuckle

steph

[rnmi2004]

In orientation we were supplied with a list of situations where the hospital expects employees to use scripting. I read it to get the gist of how I'm supposed to respond, but I didn't bother memorizing it & I don't carry my "script" with me. I haven't seen anyone who follows the script exactly & I haven't heard of anyone getting reprimanded for ad libbing.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Asking "Is there anything else I can do for you" is just good manners to me. But...some people lack good manners, so perhaps they do need to be told what to say. :chuckle

I think a lot of people do that. But something about adding "I have the time" script has a positive effect. I can't remember much about the study I read as to why.

It is a shame that hospital workers need to be taught good manners and how to talk to people. For those of us with brains and manners it is a bit condescending don't you think?

[SmilingBluEyes]

It is a shame that hospital workers need to be taught good manners and how to talk to people. For those of us with brains and manners it is a bit condescending don't you think?

to the extreme. It is insulting.

[KrisRNwannabe]

No way, I can spot when someone is reading from a script to me and it usual sounds totally unatural. I know what info has to be related to the patient and I usually tell them in a way they will understand. Like someone above said I am a real live nursing student and I treat my patients like real live people. Otherwise I sound like I work for the phone company!!!