Customer Service and 24 hour visitation

Nurses General Nursing

Published

On August 5, 2008, My hospital is going to implement a new Customer Service master plan that will surely make every employee's life a living hell. Some of the new "Improvements" to this horrid design include: 24 Hour visitation, 24 hour room service, leatherbound menu's, DVD, WiFi internet, Massages (that we nurses are to do since we have soo much free time), flatscreen TV's, Starbucks coffee carts, Quiet time/Do Not Disturb time, Valet parking, and sleeper cots in the rooms. The last one I detest the most. Our room are VERY crowded (some with 3 beds) and the last thing we need is to break our backs trying to maneuver around a family member. Needless to say, I am very very anxious about all these changes. Now we will have administration barking at us for politely asking family members to step out of the room while we provide pericare. With all these new changes about to occur, somethings will remain the same - for example our old vital signs machines and telemetry equipment from 1980.

Specializes in CTICU, Interventional Cardiology, CCU.

how can there be quiet time/do not disturb if the pt. per-say needs AC/HS and 3am FS, q 4h VS, drips that need to be chnaged, meds at odd times like 3 am, or GOD FORBID a CODE.

I can picture, "Shhhh, we need to be quite during this code, b/c it's quiet time"...not "we are trying to save someone's life and in all the Code confusion we tend to yell out things just so they can be herd by all medical staff".

Uggg..I am so sorry, and if they want massage's for the pt's, the hosp. should hire massgage therapists. B/C us nurses have soo much time to take 15-30 min. out of our schedule to give a good rub down to each of our pt's. I know in Nursing school we were taught that a light massage is a theraputic touch. BUT if yo uhad 4-6 pt's that require a 15-30 min. massage, that's alot of time. Hence having a massage therapist on board for massages for the pt's.

I know that I give my pt's a back rub once in a while, espically when they are a complete care. It get's the blood circulating and makes the pt. comfortable b/c they can't walk, they can't get out of bed hence the reason they are a complete care, BUT if the pt. is only there for short stay, the whole massage idea is insane.

I couldn;t even imagine giving one of my PTCA pt's a massage. They are only there for a over night stay a massage would be out of the question. Or one of my other short stay cardiac pt's. Not to sound cynical, but this would give the pt. more incentive to come back to the hosp. to be admitted b/c they recieve gold star service, something they may not get at home. Which waiting on them hand and foot does not encourage the pt. to preform ADL's for themselves, which in my book is very important, so upon discharge the pt. has the lap of luxary at the hotel, wait did I say hotel I mean HOSPITAL. So why would they want to leave a place that is like a hotel???

I can understand that these things may make pt's more HAPPY, but how many of these pt's actually come to the hosp. with their laptop ready for wifi service?? I know that there may be a FEW but flat screen TV's, 24 hour room service, what is this the Park Plaza?

24 hour visitation In semi-private rooms, is very annoying. I have seen it, the pt's roomate can't sleep b/c of the family members. If only one family members is to stay in a semi-private room during off hours that's ok b/c I deal with that alot, but not 2,3 or 4 family members to stay in a semi-private room. I have seen some ugly bickering. Plus how big are the rooms? A cot is still bulky and big and it's in the way. even when it isn;t in the way it's still in the way.

The other thing is the 24 hour room service, is there a MENU that the pt's and family can choose from??? And if that item isn;t available them I can only imagine the frustration. Also if the pt. is NPO post MN, will the 24 hour room service know, is it flaged when the pt. call the room service. And what's to say that the family staying orders food, but gives it to the pt. eventhough the pt. is NPO.

And my big question..is the 24 hour room service apply to staff? can nurses, ect. call and make an order for themselves?

I don;t know, I know there are some hospitals that implemented this policy but only for the pt's in Critical Care units, where the nurse to pt. ratio is 1:1 or 2:1, and the pt's have private rooms, not semi-private rooms. And the "extra's" accomidated the family member staying with the pt. and it works.

But not floors with high pt. acuities, there is a large nurse to pt. ratio and stress if things don;t go they way the family and pt. want. If the wifi is not working, you know the family or pt. will tell the nurse, we are not IT experts so that just means an extra phone call that may take 20 min. t resolve. If the room service isn;t what they wanted, the pt. or family will tell the nurse resulting in calling for something else. Or if the massage wasn't given, b/c you the nurse were tooo busy to give a rub down, you the nurse wil hear about it.

The worst would be if the hosp. gaurantees that said services will be preformed. If you are the nurse and you have a mega code lasting a few hours, and you didn;t have time to call IT to fix the wifi b/c that's a major part of a Pt.'s ADL's(scarcasm) , get the right meal roomservice didn;t send them b/c they have roomservice at home (???) and how many times can they order room service in any given 24 hour period b/c if we had this at my hosp. the dirtary dept. would be on my floor every 5 min., or if you were not ablt to give all of your pt's massages b/c you had to give meds, blood, call the doc's ect.. then shame on you.

I understand the hosp. want to make pt. care a healing exp. but how is some of this healing. If you the nurse are over worked over stressed, and on top of this you have this new policy it's just going to add to the mayhem.

My hospital just got Wi-Fi but it was mainly for various personnel who use PDAs. Other people had wondered about it so they could e-mail updates about a family member or send out pictures of the new baby.

Where I work, the only people who have 24-hour visitation are hospice patients and some other people who are terminal.

Are they actually hiring massage therapists? My sister is an LCMT and she was hoping her hospital would do that, so she could do this and get benefits which most of them don't.

I wouldn't be working there anymore. It's a hospital for sick people. NOT a hotel/resort with maid service. :argue:

Totally agree. However, I have seen hospitals in my area that advertise their hotel-like rooms and services in order, it seems, to get people who are in the middle of a heart attack, to choose it. One ad has a picture of what looks like luxurious hotel room, only it is actually a room in the emergency area (I, mean "pavilion"). :madface:

Specializes in ICU.

i had to laugh when i read this! it takes stupidity to a higher level than i thought possible! on the up side.....perhaps now you can look forward to a 15-20% gratuity....ya think???:bugeyes:

Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.

I have seen lots of hospitals with wi-fi, I don't think that is a big deal. we have wi-fi and it is a huge satisfier.

We have the room service and the night my mom spent in the ICU and was made a DNR the phone in the room rang it was Room service asking if the patient was going to eat. I was flabbergasted (sp) and told them no. I couldn't believe they would call a patient in the icu, they should be calling the unit.

:icon_hug:

I have seen lots of hospitals with wi-fi, I don't think that is a big deal. we have wi-fi and it is a huge satisfier.

We have the room service and the night my mom spent in the ICU and was made a DNR the phone in the room rang it was Room service asking if the patient was going to eat. I was flabbergasted (sp) and told them no. I couldn't believe they would call a patient in the icu, they should be calling the unit.

Totally agree. However, I have seen hospitals in my area that advertise their hotel-like rooms and services in order, it seems, to get people who are in the middle of a heart attack, to choose it. One ad has a picture of what looks like luxurious hotel room, only it is actually a room in the emergency area (I, mean "pavilion"). :madface:

One of my friends told me about a hospital where he used to live who heavily advertised all the amenities in the OB unit - dinner for mom and dad, a bag of toys, a personalized picture frame - that probably cost about $100 total but it cost more than $2,000 extra to have a baby there.

It gets better.

When epidurals started to really take off as a popular option for L&D, one hospital in Des Moines had this big advertising blitz "IF YOU DELIVER HERE, YOU CAN GET AN EPIDURAL" as if nobody else in the area had ever heard of this. It didn't last very long, and during this time, the newspaper printed a letter from a woman doctor who said she had stopped delivering babies in 1964, and at that time had been using them for over 20 years.

:imbar

And from a policy perspective... all of these "amenities" DRIVE UP HEALTHCARE COSTS!!! It annoys me to no end that both presidential candidates and everyone trying to fix our system is obsessed with lowering healthcare costs... and here go the hospitals increasing the cost of care with this nonsense. They claim they're giving the patients what they want in a free market system. I think it's a load of you-know-what.

In the end, who pays when the insurance company gets the bill and increases premiums? Or when an uninsured person receives this kind of care?

We do!!!!

:banghead:

I'd be looking for another job pronto. In the interim I would keep providing the same quality care you do as of now. Ask people to leave for peri care and exams as you should. If they get in the way of care or disturb other patients ask them politely to leave the room. Keeping advocating for your patients as that's really our job.

The massages are absurd as it 24 hour room service. Not a fan of cots in the room either unless the patient is dying. The most offensive is the Quiet Time/Do Not Disturb. Gee...I'm so sorry to have to disturb you with meds but thought you might want to live more than watch Judge Judy uninterrupted. Idiocy.

Specializes in Psych.
On August 5, 2008, My hospital is going to implement a new Customer Service master plan that will surely make every employee's life a living hell. Some of the new "Improvements" to this horrid design include: 24 Hour visitation, 24 hour room service, leatherbound menu's, DVD, WiFi internet, Massages (that we nurses are to do since we have soo much free time), flatscreen TV's, Starbucks coffee carts, Quiet time/Do Not Disturb time, Valet parking, and sleeper cots in the rooms. The last one I detest the most. Our room are VERY crowded (some with 3 beds) and the last thing we need is to break our backs trying to maneuver around a family member. Needless to say, I am very very anxious about all these changes. Now we will have administration barking at us for politely asking family members to step out of the room while we provide pericare. With all these new changes about to occur, somethings will remain the same - for example our old vital signs machines and telemetry equipment from 1980.

Important Memo to All Employees:

Don't forget to say "Sweet Dreams!" when you go to delivery the nightly tuck-in service.

Specializes in Pediatrics.

While I find ALL of this ridiculous, the thing that got me FUMING MAD was the MASSAGES?!?!?!?!??!?! Are you kidding me? If I had been told that while working in the hospital I would have to MASSAGE MY PATIENTS, I would have stood up, probably said a few choice words, and walked out, never ever ever looking back. NO WAY. How wildly inappropriate.

Healthcare should NOT equal a hotel.

As for the 24 hour visitation, I have been there and it is a HUGE nuisance. Even patients didn't really appreciate it, they would ask to NOT be disturb with the family. It's usually the family members who don't like visiting hours, NOT the patients.

I don't know what else to say, I'm too irritated....

I say if they want to act like a hotel, then they need to take it all the way.

You don't get all the extras for FREE when you stay at a hotel. They are not part of the cost of the room. You want a massage, you schedule it and pay extra (and there are hotel staff hired specifically for this service - other staff don't "work it in" to their jobs). Room service - sure, but you pay extra. Coffee cart - extra. DVD's - extra. Valet parking - extra. You can bet insurance would not cover all this extra crap, but patients who want to pay extra for it could have it - just like out there in the real world (not some hospital la la land).

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