Title says it all . Second semester baby nurse in clinicals at a major hospital.
Patients = Awesome
Most Nurses = Very sweet and helpful
Some nurses are rude, terse, horrible with patients, horrible with students and horrible with each other.
To those nurses I say this, please retire.
Its only a matter of time before management figures out they can live without you and hire some very hungry and very competent new grads that want to be there to fill your dusty shoes....
word...
sadly the vast majority of the time these happen to also be charge nurses....in charge of what? Misery?
I am sorry mate, but there is never any excuse for being rude, never ever ever
Perhaps, tying your complaints to age (rather than behavior) and lecturing seasoned veterans about taking a holistic approach to patient care (which can certainly include customer service but should never be replaced by it) might be seen as a little ungracious.
Specializes in vascular, med surg, home health , rehab,.
Wow, hmm well, here is the deal, you folks trying to deny that customer service is important in nursing are in for a rude awakening if you can please pardon my pun.....
You will have to learn from your own experiences......
Good luck in your journey
No, Very good luck in yours, your going to need it. Again in case you missed it: Hospitals are for medical care; pts need nurses to be available for them, they novelty of private rooms, flat screen TV's, room service, washcloths shaped like animals, cookies, last about 5 minutes. Then they want what they are there to recieve, skilled care from skilled staff. Funny enough, thanks to management who think like you, those nurses are too busy dealing with BS to actually provide that.
Nurses are also there to therapeutically communicate with patients and their familes, to treat their patients as holistic beings by attending to body, mind and spirit....
There is much more to nurses than pushing drugs and performing CPR......ya know...the art part yes?
Wait, aren't you the guy that started all the crap a few months ago about how it's immoral for women to seek employment when they know they are pregnant? :icon_roll
Know what gets under my skin? People that like to stir up crap just to create drama, and then try to justify it as 'discussion'.
Yup thats me and I will stand by every word I typed
If you speak in the same overbearing and condescending manner at clinicals that you come across in print it may be that the old and crusty nurses have very good reason to be having a bad day....especially if they're dealing with your attitude in addition to their daily patient issues.
Specializes in Med/Surgical; Critical Care; Geriatric.
Hello there Boys and Girls!
I have to tell you, the customer service model is alive and well in Central Indiana. I saw Press Ganey mentioned....it's here as well. As nurses, we have many customers...patients, visitors, each other. But when it means keeping your census up, it's all about the patient. Patient and family complaints are a big deal at my hospital. And you know that saying, "the customer is always right?"; well, add the words "even if they're wrong." And after I got my first complaint I made my attitude change and the word of the day (and everyday) is "schmooze." I work in ICU and you better believe I do my best to make sure my patient and their worried loved ones are taken care of and so does every other nurse I work with. I make sure my patients are "fluffed and puffed", coffee all around to family members if it's going to be a long day, answering questions and providing as much information to them and their families as I can. Communication is key. Someone on here made a statement, that they don't thank their patient's for choosing -------- Hospital.....wrong move because anymore, they could choose to go to a different facility across town if they have a lousey experience with you. By no means am I bragging or choosing sides here....this is reality.
I remember when I was a student and doing my critical care rotation. It took me 20 years to even entertain the idea of working in ICU after the way I was treated. I've been in healthcare for 33 years and I think the customer service model is going to be around a long time.
If you speak in the same overbearing and condescending manner at clinicals that you come across in print it may be that the old and crusty nurses have very good reason to be having a bad day....especially if they're dealing with your attitude in addition to their daily patient issues.
Actually, and it may just be my hopeful attitude, the vast majority of my classmates and the staff at the hospital, and especially the patients seem to really really really like me....
If you speak in the same overbearing and condescending manner at clinicals that you come across in print it may be that the old and crusty nurses have very good reason to be having a bad day....especially if they're dealing with your attitude in addition to their daily patient issues.
Also, could you please quote the statements that you felt were condescending and overbearing?
I am sorry if anything I said came across that way and or offended you.....
Nurses are also there to therapeutically communicate with patients and their familes, to treat their patients as holistic beings by attending to body, mind and spirit....
There is much more to nurses than pushing drugs and performing CPR......ya know...the art part yes?
Absolutely! Many people don't get that. Most folks--including a good proportion of nurses---think that nursing is limited to performing technical skills. I've always thought that limiting nursing to skillful performance of tasks was a direct route to job dissatisfaction and frustration. Some of the most burned out, unhappy nurses were task oriented rather than person-oriented. I always thought folks like that missed out on some of the best parts of being a nurse.
Nursing demands head knowledge and heart knowledge. The head knowledge is the science, which is vital, and the heart knowledge is the art. I find it frustrating when people focus solely on the science and forget that nursing is also an art. Of course, we can't be completely airy-fairy and forget about the importance of a solid scientific foundation for nursing care. There has to be a balance...
Nursing also demands self-awareness, to understand that sometimes the job can be overwhelming and that one might need a break, especially in a difficult, high-stress specialty. Nurses are often not good at self-care and deny their needs until they're past the point of being ineffective. I've seen far too many nurses, experienced veterans as well as new grads, who have put self-care on hold and have crashed and burned. There are few things that seem more disheartening to me than watching an enthusiastic, idealistic new grad get blindsided by the realities of nursing practice and turn into an uncaring, bitter drone. Unfortunately, I've seen that happen way too many times.
I also wish the nursing profession supported itself better and that we didn't always divide ourselves into us vs. them. It seems that we're all so busy with the nonsense of RN vs. LPN, ADN vs. BSN, DNP vs. PhD, student or new grad vs. experienced nurse that we forget our commonalities. We're so busy putting each other down that we forget to lift each other up. Horizontal violence is rampant in nursing. We pride ourselves on caring for our patients but often don't give a darn about each other. Maybe we give so much that there's nothing left over. We need to change that.
BTW, do you know what really scares me? Sometimes nurses who have become bitter and burned out with the floor end up going into management, advanced practice, or education---not because they're passionate about these areas but because they "hate" floor nursing. Bedside nursing can be difficult, especially with long hours, rotating shifts, and the physical and emotional demands of direct care. However, being tired of bedside nursing or needing something other than bedside nursing is not the same as "hating" nursing. Often, those who "hate" nursing and goes into either management or education take their bad attitudes with them inflict them onto their hapless staff or students. The best managers and educators may not do direct care on a regular basis but they still have a passion for nursing that comes through in their work and how they treat other people.
I've had jobs I didn't particularly like and times when I thought I "hated" nursing. I got out of nursing for a number of years and followed a different dream, but found that the passion for nursing was still there. The good days and the bad have all worked together to make me the person---and the nurse---that I am today. My career has taken a path that I did not expect and I am excited to see the direction it eventually takes. I no longer work bedside but I am grateful for the years I have spent in direct care. I still love nursing.
But as my friend, Mi Vida Loca, stated, if I get to the point at which i am "hating" what I do, I want my family and friends to tell me to get out.
Mindlor, this is an interesting discussion. I think I understand what you were trying to say.
Moogie, I am humbled....I wish I had taken the time to articulate my original post like the example you just posted....incredibly insightful!!! Thank you sooo much
rn/writer, RN
9 Articles; 4,168 Posts
Perhaps, tying your complaints to age (rather than behavior) and lecturing seasoned veterans about taking a holistic approach to patient care (which can certainly include customer service but should never be replaced by it) might be seen as a little ungracious.