The math doesn't add up

Nurses General Nursing

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seanynjboy, BSN

225 Posts

Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Supervisory, HEDIS, IT.
I'm a math person, so it really bothers me when my manager asks us to do an additional task or duty without subtracting a current task or duty. The math doesn't add up.

Our current duties take up a full shift. If you add something more, something else needs to be eliminated.

For example:

When my manager says, "I'd like you to provide the patient with handwritten thank you cards. These cards will take about 2 minutes to write and distribute per patient." She should also say, "therefore, you no longer have to complete care plans for your patients, as those take about the same amount of time. From now on, I will write the care plans for you."

What are you supposed to write... "Thank you for getting sick today and choosing to come to X establishment?" That is kind of preposterous.

In regards to your actual "Math" question. I completely agree. Extra tasks should not be added unless some are taken or done away with. People can only handle so much a shift. (this goes for every job)

K+MgSO4, BSN

1,753 Posts

Specializes in Surgical, quality,management.

I am so creeped out by the idea of this. The last time I was a pt was when I caught swine flu. I doubt the nurse looking after me wanted to write a thank you note. More like "thanks for making me gown up in a sweaty plastic gown for an hour as I tried to cannulate you because you had no po intake in 3 days and a BP of 85 at home."

Eww, it is just creepy. Thank goodness I don't work in the US but in Australia where we still get chocolates and cakes from our pts as they leave and I just cleared the thank you board for a new batch of cards FROM PATIENTS!

madwife2002, BSN, RN

26 Articles; 4,777 Posts

Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

The worst part of the thank you cards included a tear off piece where you could name the best nurse you had during your stay.

If it was your name then you got a $5 bonus for each one, it was soooooooo embarrassing plus there were nurses who would actually 'force' the pt to write their name so that they would get $5 plus if they had the most at the end of the month they got a bigger bonus!

It was almost like prostitution I felt

Specializes in PCCN.

Isnt that why we write our names on white boards- so they can be reminded of who their awesome nurse is? sarcasm intended.

Yes - " thank you for choosing blabla institution . We have been honored that you chose us to provide you with very good care.

or how about the manager going around to the pts and asking if they have had very good care - umm yeah, like the drug seeker is going to give an honest answer on that one. Or the dementia pt lol

seriously- even hotels dont do this- we've gone way beyond the hotel mentality ....

Caffeine_IV

1,198 Posts

Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

We have those cards pre printed and we sign our name or write a message if you like.

Waste of time and silly. When I say thank you and take care at end of my shift that should be sufficient.

Anyone that gets these should know it's not personal nor heartfelt when you are "required" to do it.

Altra, BSN, RN

6,255 Posts

Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

"Dear Patient A:

I'm so very glad that we got a chance to know each other after you fell down 6 stairs and broke your femur. I hope that you can recall your excellent stay at Most Awesome Hospital with fondness ... the surgery, the pain, the joy of personal hygiene with immobility. Please visit us again at your earliest convenience.."

"Dear Patient B:

How thoughtful of you to make your hospital stay so memorable for nurses, physicians, ancillary staff, other patients and visitors, and everyone who came within 20 feet of you. Your colorful descriptions of your planned actions if you didn't get pain meds "on time" were so entertaining! And the Oscar-worthy performance when your out-of-town children arrived ... brilliant! We look forward to your repeat performance of Noncompliance: The Trilogy in the near future."

If y'all need more ideas I can keep writing ...

VICEDRN, BSN, RN

1,078 Posts

Specializes in ER.
It is a personal touch. Pharmacists and housekeeping could write them but it would be meaningless to the patient since neither of them personally cared for the patient. Us, on the other hand, the patients remember, and would recognize the name on the card.

I tell my patients my name twice during room orientation and while they can describe me and tell you nice things about me, they NEVER remember my name. In fact, I was just warned that I needed to get the patients to remember my name or I would face discipline even though they can clearly describe me. Please come back and reflect more on this thread when you are out on your own and caring for own patient assignment and discover that thank you cards are a meaningless and demeaning gesture for everyone involved.

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

OK - this thread cinches it. Nurses are not only the funniest people on the face of the earth, but the most discerning.

This whole concept is just wrong on so many levels. It is also another clear indication that these managers are failing badly. Their primary responsibility is to ensure that the environment (resources, staffing, P&P, etc) provides optimal support to those who are actually delivering the care. A good manager would fall on this grenade rather than burden their staff with additional nonsense. As pointed out originally, adding additional tasks to maxxed out staff is absurd. Particularly when that task is so . . . strange.

What in the world are we thanking patients for? They are in our hospital either because a physician chose to admit them to the hospital where s/he has admitting privileges or it was the closest/most appropriate E.D. If administrators insist on this bizarre task, it should at least have some authenticity - so, change it from "thank you" to "Please, please, please (etc) give us high marks on the patient survey so our reimbursement won't be dinged"

IMO, this also undermines the professional image of nurses. AIDET is a much better practice - whereby each nurse introduces her/himself to the patient and provides them with a business card. There are too many issues with maintaining appropriate professional boundaries... patients 'friending' their nurses in social media sites, etc. We are not their friends, we are professionals who can be relied upon to deliver high quality nursing care whenever they need it. Just think of the potential ramifications... patients (not having been informed of this new marketing scheme) may think that that cute nurse is trying to establishing a social relationship (eewwww).

If anyone should be thanking patients, it should be accounting.... when (if) they pay their bill.

BrandonLPN, LPN

3,358 Posts

Yeah, what kills me is that people are *paid* to come up with this garbage. And very likely paid more than most of us here. And it's not as though this is some brilliant new concept. Stores and amusement parks and casinos have been doing it forever. They just applied it, inexplicably, to a hospital.

Seriously, I know I'm no expert on the business end of these things. But I just don't get the thought process here. In my grandpa's day jobs like this didn't exist. "Risk management", "patient relations" do we really need entire departments of these people? Wouldn't one or two people be enough? I'm convinced 90% of these people are purely superfluous. We need more nurses, aides, doctors, social workers, housekeepers. People who do tangible work. Fire a few riskmanagement specialists and hire some more nurses!

BostonTerrierLover, BSN, RN

1 Article; 909 Posts

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.

To me it just screams: Please Don't Sue Us, or Talk Negatively about Your Stay...

What's really SICK is the dissection of this idea.

That society trusts the nurse- not the Corporation.

They are writing the card through your respect, your NAME, and your reputation that you earned by your sweat, your earned trust, your sacrificed back, sore muscles, and sometimes even your tears,...all because:

They've damaged their reputations as uncaring profit driven, procedure delaying, unethical deciding, money grubbing, chess playing, jet-setting, mafia like, god complexic, and irresponsible brats. They can't even pretend to be "human" anymore.

This is mind blowing obvious- they can't write the cards because they know it will be laughed at- and they'll probably send it with their bill which they know would be hypocritical.

The patients know the hospital makes their money by diagnosis, and gets them discharged ASAP ready or not!

"...So we'll mask the monster we are by the precious, caring, and trusted name of our Nurses!"

It's all about Preventive Damage Control- NOT GRATITUDE!!! Do you think their trying to promote our name,... Or theirs? Don't tarnish my name- it's mine! You are renting my knowledge and service- you have no right to my name.

I'm NOT a Marketing Agent, a Damage Control Agent, or a Rented Reputation- I am a Nurse(who can decide all by myself where to sign my John Henry!).

MJB2010

1,025 Posts

With a staff meeting coming up I am so tempted to use this thread for reference. When they tell us all the new tasks we will be adding on, and you know there will be several, I would like to raise my hand high and ask "which tasks will you be taking away?" to allow for the time of course since we are already packed to the brim and rarely get to take a lunch break. I am going to start a "math doesn't add up" chant. I love it, because it is SO SIMPLE AND TRUE. Don't even get me started on the Thank you cards, that is preposterous. Perhaps we could tell them that we haven't given them out yet since we are waiting on the Doctors to fill out their portion. Or we could do a nice photo card of all of the nurses smiling holding a thank you sign like people do after weddings.

mama_d, BSN, RN

1,187 Posts

Specializes in tele, oncology.

When my then-13 year old received his thank you card, his reaction was along the following:

"Thank you for getting appendicitis, have your incompetent ER nurse miss my veins, and getting emergency surgery? What's wrong with you people? I know you've all got a sick sense of humor, but this is bizarre."

He did however appreciate the added on message from his nurse that thanked him for being so patient waiting for pain meds and being "more polite than my grown up patients usually are".

What I find ridiculously stupid is that my floor sees a lot of oncology patients with poor prognosis who we end pre-printed cards to referencing our sincere desire for an uneventful recovery. Wha??? Those I absolutely refuse to sign.

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