Is it just me, or are patients getting worse?? In light of the whole change of focus being on customer service rather than the healing arts, I feel like it has gone to the heads of a lot of people.
For example, we had one patient who was a blatant racist...constant verbal abuse of nurses who were not white. He complains to the patient advocate about getting blood on his tattered shirt (when he refused to take it off even though he had a draining wound), and the hospital gives him money to buy a new shirt.
We had another patient who verbally attacked the nurses, and he was rewarded with a fruit basket courtesy of our hospital.
I've seen nurses verbally attacked and been threatened physical harm, and I have heard of nurses who are physically attacked by patients as well.
I've always felt that nurses should have some sort of protection, or legal recourse when they are abused. If this patient were out of the hospital and did this, they would not get rewarded with a fruit basket, to say the least. However, whenever I talk to my coworkers about it, their basic attitude is that it comes with the job, and there is nothing that can be done as patients satisfaction comes first.
I totally disagree. I can understand and accept a certain amount of crabbiness from patients as they are sick and do not particularly want to be in a hospital. However, I will not stand there and tolerate a patient threatening me nor my coworkers just because he happens to be gunning for A-hole of the Year Award.
So, I guess my questions to you are: what sort of policies does you facility have to protect nurses from abuse? If a patient (fully within his/her mental capacity) strikes a nurse, do the police become involved? Is the patient still accountable for their actions while they are in a hospital? I guess I am tired of seeing hospitals reward patients for bad behavior, while leaving their nurses out in the cold. No wonder nurses are leaving the profession in droves.
I'm just interested in everyone's opinions, and maybe any experiences they've had...
Right on!! this is something that I have mentioned or harped upon a long time. Although, some may just think I am jaded by my profession.
Here we are understaffed, hungry, needing to void, ect, ect... and there is the culprit.... a person who expects the speed of superman, to never have to wait and to be treated as though they were at club med. Let me tell you I have been on cruises and to vacation paradise and never expected what some pt's expect of us!
All points made on this thread are legit!!! Do not get me wrong... I just think that if health care as a whole expects us to operate like Mc donald's maybe they should supply us with cool head sets!! he he!
I do think that we are put into a very submissive position by people who are not operating on full capacity. I was entertaining the idea today... I am a waitress without tips. Maybe if the hospital is so concerning with customer satisfaction then we should have some criteria for "gratuity". I mean enough is enough and I am not being funny!
Maybe through nurses notes, flow sheets, ect there is a mode of billing that would go to our profession.... like a tip. Maybe that would hold down the club med, I am tooo good, I will hurt you if I do not get a new t-shirt and box of chocolates attitude.
I have many complaints about the facility I work in (mostly management) but they have adopted a zero tolerance policy to verbal and physical abuse directed towards staff which is great. I guess being in the southern hemisphere we don't have the whole litigation deal that you do - thank goodness!! Other threads I've read about it leave me absolutely amazed.
Recently there have been a couple of staff members physically attacked, one of the offenders is now in jail for it , not sure what happened to the other one. Hopefully he too is doing some time away from polite society.
I don't think it should be an accepted part of the job, as we all know its a tough job without the people you're trying to help trying to have a go at you!! You know damn well that if one of these people who got a basket of fruit for gawds sake had done their thing where all the administrators and hospital bigwigs hang out there would'nt have been any fruit - more like a fast visit to jail!!
When I worked charge in LTC we had a resident that was continuosly verbally, sexually and physically abusive to staff. He was completely A&O. One thing he would do is comletely go limp during transfer even though he was perfectly capable of helping thus hurting the backs of staff. Another thing he would do was twist there arms when they attempted care. He would also constantly make sexual coments and grab at the female aids breasts. After writing tons of incident reports and talking to management til I was blue in the face, I finally resorted to sending the STNA's to ER each and every time and fill out all the workers comp papers when he would harm them in anyway. I also filled out and filed sexual harrassement papers with several of the STNA's and reported the problem to state. When pts/residents begin to cost more than they are making on them management tends to take notice and action. It is rediculous we are nurses and caregivers not victims. And no I was not popular with management but I did not ever get wrote up and my evals were all good nor did I get fired I did however resign eventually. If we dont stand up for ourselves noone else is going to.
Customer service is not just another way to tell the staff to shut up and take it. What a narrow-minded statement to make (sorry if anyone is offended but come on!!). Nursing staff that are asked to engage in effective (key word here) customer service or service excellence techniques are not being thrown to the wolves.
It is capitalism, free-market economy where supply and demand and competition rule!! WE even have laws that preserve our ability to compete--antitrust laws.
The advent of the 3rd party payor system (worst thing that ever happend to healthcare in the USA) generated some expectations that have brought us where we are today concerning customer service. Healthcare staff expected the patient to follow orders, do what they were told, and fit into the way the hospital does things. The money to pay for the care was not coming out of the patient's pocket so they did it without question. Now that consumers are more educated, healthcare insurance is super expensive, consumers are waking up and saying wait a minute, I am paying alot for this so I am going to go where people treat me right with good service, as with any other business. You would not go to a shop or restaurant where the staff were rude to you!! So we are having to deliver a quality product with a smile just like everyone else in a competition based economy.
As for patients, or customers as they should rightly be called, abusing staff, it should not be tolerated. I am a RN who has been in administration now for 7 years or so, and I do not tolerate this. I recently banned a family member from the facility for abusing the nurses. Did and will call the police and press charges against them again.
So come on guys. The attitude of the poor down-trodden, unappreciated, unrecognized, oppressed nursing staff is tired and old. Stand up and realize the power you have and use it. If we don't have satisfied patients/customers they will go somewhere else for their care. Where do you think that paycheck you get regularly comes from anyway?!?!
(partial quote) I am a RN who has been in administration now for 7 years or so, and I do not tolerate this. I recently banned a family member from the facility for abusing the nurses. Did and will call the police and press charges against them again.
So come on guys. The attitude of the poor down-trodden, unappreciated, unrecognized, oppressed nursing staff is tired and old. Stand up and realize the power you have and use it. If we don't have satisfied patients/customers they will go somewhere else for their care. Where do you think that paycheck you get regularly comes from anyway?!?!
It is quite obvious you are a management nurse, Ainz, you need not remind us.
I am glad you banned an abusive family member. More management teams need to do this. But you still tried to put this back on the nurses' backs with your following paragraph.
I've been a nurse for 27 yrs. Over and over I see facilities side with abusive families/patients and fail to treat their own employees fairly. I've watched good nurses, hurt on the job by abusive 'customers', blamed; watched facilities weasel out of any responsibility.
The reason this comes up over and over again (sorry it is old news to you, but it is quite obvious why to me) is when new nurses get into these situations they are amazed at the management responses, and unsure how to proceed.
Also work in LTC, had a lady who was constantly on the light for nothing, racial and sexual slurs, went limp on transfers and told the CNA's, "I hope you break your back." Threw things into her roommates bed, on the floor , on the walls. Bit, hit, scratched...you get the picture. Well PCP gave us a psych consult, and the lady was put on Ativan 0.5 mg PRN...that didn't work, so the social services ladies made up a chart and if this lady didn't have a "behavior" on your shift she was supposed to get a star on her chart...well....stupid idea, it just made things worse, so anyway one day after calling the CNA's C---S-----s and the nurses and the visitors, screaming out in the hall that "Someone better get in here and empty my bedpan, or are you all too busy sucking c--k" the administration was called in. The administrator went into the room to talk to this lady and got called a c---s----r, too. Guess what??? She was moved the next day. So after all the abuse to residents, staff and visitors, many complaints, all it took was for one of the higher-ups to get called a nasty name....doewn't make sense does it??? At least the floor is a calmer, quieter place to work now.
The reason this comes up over and over again (sorry it is old news to you, but it is quite obvious why to me) is when new nurses get into these situations they are amazed at the management responses, and unsure how to proceed.
Amazed is right - just yesterday I had a totally coherent, oriented patient say to me - "You WILL do everything I tell you to B***H!"
My Manager heard her say this and when I rolled my eyes in disgust - MY MANAGER TOLD ME TO JUST DO WHAT SHE ASKS...
My mouth fell open in disbelief....And I am not a new nurse. But you are right on the money when you say that new nurses are unsure how to proceed when faced with the same situation.
And, ainz, your post is spoken like a true administrator. No flame intended, just an observation.
I'm sure that barring other factors (ie- having to go to the facility your insurance co demands) the "customer base" or patient load would equalize over time. As patients left hospital X to go to Hospital Y, the less over-worked staff members at hospital X would provide more timely, pro-active and thorough care with even a few of the customer service perks that management is so enamored with, while staff at hospital Y became even more overburdened. This would result in Hospital X now being seen as the more desirable healthcare facility to go to... How many of us can honestly say we are capable of giving the same quality of care within the same time frame when we are caring for 10 patients instead of 7?
I totally agree with that. Administration is after the almighty healthcare dollar. We have a lot of competing hospitals in KC, and there's new ones being planned or currently being built. I think patients are going to find that the nice little patient perks that hospitals offer, don't seem that impressive when you are taken care of by a very frazzled, very overworked nurse. I don't know how many times I have heard nurses mutter under their breath, "This is a hospital, NOT a hotel!". In fact, we had one patient who would bend over and demand that the nurse wipe her butt (the patient was there for broken ankle). The nurse politely told her that she was fully able to do that task on her own, to which the patient barked, "That's what you are PAID to do!!"
If the patient shows respect and kindness to the nurse, then the nurse will want to provide the very best care she/he can give. If a patient spends the shift telling a nurse how incompetent, fat and ugly they are, the nurse will more than likely provide care that meets the minimal requirements. If administration stands up for their nurses, the nurses will want to work hard for the administration. You can have the nicest, newest, fanciest hospital in the world, but if the nurses are allowed to be treated like dogs, than no one is going to want to work there, and I don't care if they pay $50 an hour to start. No amount of money in the world can pay for my dignity and self-worth.
I've always had a BIG issue with the whole "customer satisfaction" movement, and I have even told my boss about it on many occasions (we have a pretty good working relationship anyway). Saving lives always seemed more important to me rather than a free morning paper and a hot cup of gourmet coffee. There are people who respect nurses, but on the same token, there are a lot of people who look at us and just see an overpaid waitress. I've noticed that some people really complain a lot if they think they will get a free hospital stay out of the deal. Ugh!! Nurses used to be respected and revered.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Originally posted by Headhurt
I totally agree with that. Administration is after the almighty healthcare dollar. We have a lot of competing hospitals in KC, and there's new ones being planned or currently being built. I think patients are going to find that the nice little patient perks that hospitals offer, don't seem that impressive when you are taken care of by a very frazzled, very overworked nurse. I don't know how many times I have heard nurses mutter under their breath, "This is a hospital, NOT a hotel!". In fact, we had one patient who would bend over and demand that the nurse wipe her butt (the patient was there for broken ankle). The nurse politely told her that she was fully able to do that task on her own, to which the patient barked, "That's what you are PAID to do!!"
If the patient shows respect and kindness to the nurse, then the nurse will want to provide the very best care she/he can give. If a patient spends the shift telling a nurse how incompetent, fat and ugly they are, the nurse will more than likely provide care that meets the minimal requirements. If administration stands up for their nurses, the nurses will want to work hard for the administration. You can have the nicest, newest, fanciest hospital in the world, but if the nurses are allowed to be treated like dogs, than no one is going to want to work there, and I don't care if they pay $50 an hour to start. No amount of money in the world can pay for my dignity and self-worth.
I've always had a BIG issue with the whole "customer satisfaction" movement, and I have even told my boss about it on many occasions (we have a pretty good working relationship anyway). Saving lives always seemed more important to me rather than a free morning paper and a hot cup of gourmet coffee. There are people who respect nurses, but on the same token, there are a lot of people who look at us and just see an overpaid waitress. I've noticed that some people really complain a lot if they think they will get a free hospital stay out of the deal. Ugh!! Nurses used to be respected and revered.
We need to have a Nurses Bill of Rights.
Yes we do need a nurses' bill of rights!! After all , a patient's bill of rights is prominently displayed everwhere you walk.
And I agree, Ainz sounds like a true administrator who forgot his/her nursing roots. Sad. but not surprising.
tcrn
104 Posts
Right on!! this is something that I have mentioned or harped upon a long time. Although, some may just think I am jaded by my profession.
Here we are understaffed, hungry, needing to void, ect, ect... and there is the culprit.... a person who expects the speed of superman, to never have to wait and to be treated as though they were at club med. Let me tell you I have been on cruises and to vacation paradise and never expected what some pt's expect of us!
All points made on this thread are legit!!! Do not get me wrong... I just think that if health care as a whole expects us to operate like Mc donald's maybe they should supply us with cool head sets!! he he!
I do think that we are put into a very submissive position by people who are not operating on full capacity. I was entertaining the idea today... I am a waitress without tips. Maybe if the hospital is so concerning with customer satisfaction then we should have some criteria for "gratuity". I mean enough is enough and I am not being funny!
Maybe through nurses notes, flow sheets, ect there is a mode of billing that would go to our profession.... like a tip. Maybe that would hold down the club med, I am tooo good, I will hurt you if I do not get a new t-shirt and box of chocolates attitude.